NTL faces loss of licence

TELECOMS regulator Etain Doyle has threatened to withdraw NTL’s digital licence if it does not explain why its customers are still denied access to a full digital service.

Ms Doyle, who has described the situation as “intolerable”, has called on NTL to produce an adequate explanation by October 15.

“Failure by NTL to provide the necessary clarity by this date will result in my office taking whatever steps are appropriate under the regulations,” she warned.

Sanctions that can be imposed by her office include revoking, suspending or amending the company’s licence or reducing the licence area in which it operates.

Chorus also came under fire from Ms Doyle’s office over a year ago when it attempted to introduce a service charge to customers, a number of whom had been complaining at the time about the quality of the TV signal.

Ms Doyle told the company to withdraw its €3.17 monthly service charge, which would have increased the company’s annual revenue by €9.5 million. Those who refused to pay were faced with a €57.15 charge for each call out. The company, also threatened with having its licence revoked if it did not withdraw the charges, admitted that it did not seek permission to introduce the new charges but did keep Ms Doyle’s office fully informed of its intentions.

NTL's existing agreement stipulated that digital services be provided to more than 100,000 customers in its franchise area by March 31 last. However, the company has only managed to upgrade 36,000 households/businesses to date, mostly in Dublin.

Ms Doyle said she was “very concerned” that NTL MMDS customers in Dublin, Waterford, Galway and west Mayo were still denied access to digital services.

The warning only applies to NTL’s digital licences and not to those for its cable services, which are compliant.

The Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation pointed out that it had been involved in intensive and ongoing discussions with NTL for almost two years about its failure to comply with the terms of the licence.

Ms Doyle gave the NTL an opportunity to review its business plan, which resulted in a decision by the company to sell its MMDS business.

Despite constant reassurances to the director on the proposed sale, commercial negotiations have yet to be completed by the company.

NTL currently has 371,000 customers in its licence areas of Dublin, Waterford, Galway and west Mayo, of which 21,000 have signed up for its digital service launched in September 2001.

A spokesperson for NTL said they would not be making any comment on the matter at this time. “We have until October 15 to explain our situation and we will do it then,” she said.