A COMPETITION investigation into BT over past pricing of its high-speed internet access has been extended by the regulator, leaving the former telecoms monopoly open to the threat of a multimillion-pound fine.

BT had expected a four-year competition investigation by Ofcom and its predecessor, Oftel, into whether it had abused a dominant position in its pricing of its household broadband products to conclude around now.

But Ofcom has sent to BT a fresh “statement of objections” over the case, which dates back to May 2002, when a rival, Freeserve, complained that BT’s retail division could charge customers unrealistically low prices because it received special terms when buying technical services from BT Wholesale.

In the statement Ofcom says that it “remains of the view” that BT group has infringed a section of the Competition Act and “proposes to decide accordingly”. BT, it says, can respond in both written and oral form to the statement.

Ian Livingston, the head of BT’s retail division, recently seemed to downplay the significance of the case. In an interview he said that it was “a strange world” in which France Télécom claimed that BT was being “too competitive”. A spokesman for the group said yesterday that BT “notes the new statement of objections and will respond in full in due course”.

If BT is found guilty, Ofcom can impose remedies. It can also issue a fine of up to 10 per cent of relevant turnover.

The telecoms group is still waiting to learn the outcome of recent filing of a complaint to the European Commission on whether a pension fund “Crown guarantee” constitutes state aid. The complaint, filed by an anonymous rival, could pave the way for a full-blown legal investigation.

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