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By Lisa Burroughes, 8 July 1999 00:25

NEWS BT has come under fire again over its wholesale calls and access agreement with LocalTel. Last month, the UK telco was accused of dragging its heels in processing customer transfers to the smaller operator. Although that issue has now been resolved, LocalTel has filed a second complaint with telecoms regulator, Oftel, claiming BT is cutting-off customers and removing services such as call waiting and call barring during the transferral process. It said thousands of customers have experienced problems. LocalTel, which launched at the end of April, offers UK customers cheap local calls and free off-peak Internet access through its service provider screaming.net, in partnership with high-street retailer, Tempo. The company's spokesman commented: "BT is supposed to simply transfer the customer and send us the bill which we then pass on. To do that it is actually disconnecting services and then installing the customer's details on different software before reconnecting on a LocalTel line. More than 400 customers have been cut off completely and thousands have had not had their services switched back on." A BT spokesman said: "We are aware that there have been some complaints and difficulties and we are in daily contact with LocalTel to resolve them." However, he added it is LocalTel's responsibility to find out what services their customers want and to then tell BT. He was unable to explain why services are removed in the first place. A spokeswoman for Oftel said it is taking the issue seriously. "Oftel has received a complaint and will be launching a full investigation. This further highlights the problems with BT's calls and access products, but it is obliged to provide this service and must do so to the customer's satisfaction," she said.