Ovum and BT in war of words

BT has hit back at cricticism of how it adds up the numbers using, or registering, for its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service.

Last week BT made much of having a million customers signed up to its VoIP service, claiming it had hit its target six months early. But Ovum analyst Mark Main described the release as "loosely worded".

"Yesterday's announcement needs a little dissecting. In the VoIP market the devil is very much in the detail. VoIP is now increasingly bundled by operators and it is hard to analyse precisely how many customers are really using the service in earnest and how many have merely used it a few times - or possibly even never.

"BT's statement is worded rather loosely - it implies that BT has a million VoIP users, whereas in reality anyone who takes a BT Retail Total Broadband package is automatically registered for VoIP even if they don't use the service."

But BT responded by saying: "Ovum have got it completely incorrect. Customers have to go through a separate process to sign up to VoIP - it's an additional package that allows you make calls free during the day and you have to set up a separate account."

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