By Felicity Ussher, 24 August 1998 00:25
NEWS The Internet service provider (ISP) division of Sweden's national telco, Telia, cuts off its customers' phone lines when they do not pay their Internet bills, Silicon News can exclusively reveal. The practice could infringe on Sweden's 1993 Competition Act. The news emerged as Ollie Waktel, head of Telia Internet, told Silicon News: "We find that the most efficient way of reaching a customer who has violated their Internet contract is to terminate their telephone account. We have cut off 300 people so far this year. It is embarrassing to tell your neighbours why your phone is not working." Sweden has around 80 other ISPs, which operate as independent companies. Niels Gunner Billinger, director general of Sweden's telco regulator, Post-Och Telestyrelsen, told Silicon News: "Other ISPs do not have the power to cut a telephone line. This is a problem. It is very unusual for a customer to have a telephone contract and a Web contract with the same supplier." Monica Widegren, director of the International Secretariat at Sweden's Competition Authority, Konkurrensverket, said: "This is of interest. We will consider approaching Telia about this and taking it up as a case. We must find out whether Telia is allowed to cut off supply in a product market that is different to the product market where the contract was violated."
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