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(Alliance News) - Eir Business Northern Ireland on Friday welcomed the fine imposed on BT Group PLC by the UK Office of Communications, saying that BT "unduly discriminated" against it during tendering for the Northern Ireland public sector shared network contract.
Regulator Ofcom fined BT GBP6.3 million on Friday for failing to give Dublin-based telecoms company Eircom Ltd the same information that it gave its own network arm during the tender for the contract in Northern Ireland in 2017 to 2018.
Eir Regional Director Philip O’Meara said: "The size of the fine imposed by Ofcom on BT illustrates the gravity of BT's behaviour. We firmly believe that had BT complied with its regulatory obligations, we would have retained the contract. We are considering our options in light of today's decision and BT's admission of liability."
Between April 2017 and March 2018, the London-based telecoms company and Eircom both bid for the nine-year contract, which was to provide shared data transfer services and calls to more than 150 public sector organisations in Northern Ireland across 2,000 sites. BT's bid team won the contract in June 2018.
The resulting Ofcom investigation found that BT's network arm did not provide Eir with the same information about its Fibre to the premises-on-demand product, such as its suitability, timescales, and cost for delivering the service as it did to BT's bid team.
The UK regulator said it does not believe the breaches it found were deliberate and has imposed a fine that incorporates a 30% reduction, due to BT's agreement to admit full liability.
Director of Enforcement Gaucho Rasmussen said: "BT's network arm broke our rules by failing to treat a rival company and BT's own bid team equally during the tender for a major public sector contract in Northern Ireland. Our fine reflects how important these rules are, and how seriously we take compliance."
Shares in BT were down 2.6% at 132.18 pence in London on Friday.
By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com
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