Annual report paints Oftel in new light

Promoting access to the Internet was an "important focus of Oftel's work in a year when around 2.75 million more homes were connected up to the Internet", the winged watchdog claimed in its annual report published today.

The telecoms regulator also maintained that "working for consumers remained at the heart of Oftel's work in 2000".

In an attempt to justify its continued existence Oftel claimed that its efforts forced BT to offer wholesale, unmetered Internet access to other operators making a "major contribution to the development of unmetered Internet access in the UK".

Ha! What piffle.

We've yet to see a copy of the full report but if this twaddle contained in this press release is anything to go by, we can't wait to read its explanation of the progress it made in the broadband arena. That really should make fascinating reading.

Said David "Harry Potter" Edmonds, Oftel head boy and chief wizard: "Oftel addressed the challenges of a fast changing market through a strategy of 'competition plus' - meeting the needs of consumers through proportionate regulation.

"This means withdrawing from regulation where it is no longer necessary, but taking decisive action where competition is not yet delivering the best deal for the consumer," he said.

Decisive action? Oftel?

Pull the other one. ®