UK telecommunications regulator Oftel has ruled that British Telecom may not use details of its residential telephone customers to target marketing messages for its internet services.
The watchdog decided that using information obtained from phone bills for such purposes would be anti-competitive, as rival internet firms would not be privy to the data. Oftel has previously vowed to impose strict guidelines on BT’s sales staff and to check the company follows them.
However, the regulator will allow BT to include broadband access charges within residential phone bills; also to promote new products by mailing details to customers alongside their bills and undertake market research.
Data sourced from: BrandRepublic (UK); additional content by WARC staff
