BT has reacted angrily to accusations made by BigBlueSky (BBS) about the ISP's decision to scrap its unmetered phone service.

In a lengthy statement that pulls no punches, the monster telco said: "It is only too easy to blame others - especially BT - when a company's business model is simply not robust enough to succeed in this intensely competitive marketplace."

Addressing each of BBS' allegations in turn, BT said: "BT refutes allegations that it supplied authentication software that allowed "multiple users to sign on to the system concurrently".

The telco is also angered by BBS' attempts to "try to implicate BT in the problems they have experienced with users fraudulently sharing their user information."

BT STATEMENT IN FULL

BT is disappointed and angered by BigBlueSky's (BBS's) statement. In essence, we didn't supply BBS with any software at all, so how they can blame their authentication problems on us is beyond belief. It is only too easy to blame others - especially BT - when a company's business model is simply not robust enough to succeed in this intensely competitive marketplace.

* BT Ignite has supplied BBS with its WebPort product. This does not include any software so BBS's allegation that "BT provided the authentication software" with which they have had problems is simply not true.

* Similarly, BBS's allegation that "software provided by BT was allowing multiple users to sign on to the system concurrently" is again simply not factually correct. BT has provided BBS with no software whatsoever.

* BBS try to implicate BT in the problems they have experienced with users fraudulently sharing their user information. BT has no direct contact or relationship with BBS's end users and there is no connection whatsoever between BT and any fraudulent customers of BBS.

* BBS claim there were delays on the part of BT in connecting the company. The stated lead time for WebPort is ten working days and we frequently better this. However, BBS's orders were delivered, on average, 2 working days longer than we state, but how this could lead to BBS's problems is difficult to comprehend.

* BBS claim that BT indicated that "even though they may be equally to blame, they are not prepared to allow BBS any opportunity or help in sorting out the problem". BT cannot confirm that any member of staff said that BT was "equally to blame" in these issues - as we did not provide BBS with any software, we can take no responsibility for these problems.

* BT would be very interested to see any outcome of BBS bringing this matter to the OFT or OFTEL.

The piece ends with a "my personal opinion" section yet gives no name, merely "The Directors" as a source.

The author says he or she thinks that larger telecom companies see small ISPs as "a threat to their existence in the marketplace" and that they "do their utmost to ensure the failure of an entrepreneurial system by squeezing out the smaller companies". BT wholly refutes these statements. We do not see any ISP - large or small - as a threat, we see them as valued customers. In fact, the WebPort product is designed specifically for small ISPs, and we are offering these companies an extremely good deal to help them achieve success.

Finally, yes, BT is going through a period of change. Our priority is, always has been, and always will be, delivering excellent customer service. Throughout our reorganisation, we have striven to ensure that our high levels of customer service remain so. ®

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