BT has been left scratching its head following comments made by Cable & Wireless (C&W) boss Francesco Caio last week at a telecoms conference in Edinburgh.

Caio questioned whether the creation of BT's new separate network access outfit - Openreach - would deliver the kind of "equivalence of behaviour and cost" demanded by regulator Ofcom following the completion of the strategic review into the UK's telecoms industry.

And he went further suggesting that BT does not like to be criticised by rivals, hinting that negative comments could make life uncomfortable for telcos and ISPs sourcing products and services from BT.

Caio said that C&W's broadband ISP Bulldog had complained that the service it received from BT was "not up to scratch," reported Scotland on Sunday.

"When I speak to colleagues in Bulldog [about the performance of Openreach], they say: 'We won't tell you because you tell the press and then people in BT get angry.'"

So, by Caio's own admission, staff at Bulldog appear keen to keep things from parent C&W, and people in BT get angry.

"We've no idea where that comes from or what that means," a mystified BT spokesman told us today. "We're doing all we can to enure that Ofcom and the industry are satisfied with the transparency of Openreach."

No one from Bulldog was available for comment at the time of writing. ®

Related stories

Changing BT makes 'good start' (1 June 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/01/bt_eab/
BT's 'honeymoon period' nearing end (24 May 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/24/bt_honeymoon/
BT hits back at Carphone dig (26 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/26/bt_carphone/
TalkTalk slapped for 'free' calls ad (26 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/26/carphone_asa/
Carmoan Warehouse hits out at ad critics (24 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/24/carphone_asa/
Ad watchdog mulls Carphone 'free broadband forever' complaints (20 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/20/carphone_asa/
Carphone talks tough on LLU deadline (12 April 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/12/carphone_llu_deadline/
Price war looms if BT price controls relaxed (21 March 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/21/bt_price_war/
Ofcom proposes to free BT from price controls (21 March 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/21/bt_ofcom/
C&W braces itself for 'year of hell' (27 February 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/27/c_w_shakeup/
BT Openreach faces first Ofcom probe (10 February 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/10/openreach_opal/
Bulldog faces uncertain future (6 February 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/06/bulldog_cable/
Bulldog to launch 20Mb broadband (1 February 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/01/bulldog_adsl/
BT cuts ribbon on new Openreach biz (11 January 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/11/bt_openreach/
UK poised for broadband choice (27 December 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/27/round_up/
Telewest punter hounded by Bulldog calls (21 December 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/21/bulldog_calls/
Consumers to get better deal, says Ofcom (14 December 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/14/ofcom_plan/
BT shunts broadband support to India - 886 jobs at risk (13 December 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/13/bt_clientlogic/
Bulldog targets SMEs (23 November 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/23/bulldog_broadband/
Ofcom warned not to relax BT regulation just yet (17 November 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/17/ukcta_ofcom/
Wholesale broadband costs fall again (16 November 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/16/bt_llu/
Openreach hits BT with £70m charge in Q2 (10 November 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/10/openreach_bt/
Ofcom demands greater cuts to line rental charges (9 November 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/09/wlr_ofcom/
Bulldog makes fresh start (1 November 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/01/bulldog_promo/
Ofcom gives Bulldog the all clear (19 October 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/19/bulldog_ofcom/
BT waking up to unbundling threat (19 October 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/19/wanadoo_llu/
Bulldog mauls BT over 'disappointing' BB unbundling (17 October 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/17/bulldog_bt/
LLU falters in UK (14 October 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/14/ota_llu/
BT names Openretch 'Famous Five' prefects (11 October 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/11/bt_openretch/
BT names Openretch XI (27 September 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/27/openreach_team/
The ugly truth about coopetition (26 September 2005)
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/09/26/coopetition/
BT workers must change behaviour, says boss (22 September 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/22/bt_behaviour/
BT unveils new access business (22 September 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/22/openreach_ofcom/
BT secures new deal with Ofcom (22 September 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/22/ofcom_new_deal/