LONDON (Alliance News) - Media and communications regulator Ofcom has fined BT Group PLC GBP800,000 for its failure to provide an improved text-to-voice service for its customers with hearing or speech impediments between April and September 2014.
Ofcom told all UK landline and mobile phone operators to launch the Next Generation Text Service by April 18, 2014, but BT missed the deadline due to technical problems with the sound quality of emergency calls. It eventually launched the service on September 24, 2014.
Ofcom said it acknowledged that the emergency calls problem became apparent only late in the process and conceded the level of financial harm to consumers resulting from the delay was limited.
But the regulator said that providing the improved text relay service is "important requirement designed to ensure that people with hearing or speech impairments have equivalent access to phone services".
"BT had 18 months to meet that requirement and did not do so for five months after the deadline for complying," Ofcom added.
"The size of the penalty imposed on BT reflects the importance of providing an improved text relay service to its customers with hearing and speech impairments," said Claudio Pollack, Ofcom's Consumer and Content Group Director.
"However, BT has invested significantly in launching the new text relay service, which allows users to have conversations more easily and fluently and on new devices. We welcome the fact the service is now operating successfully," Pollack added.
Shares in BT were down 0.6% to 448.9447 pence on Tuesday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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