THE new boss of NTL, the cable-television company that last week agreed to buy Virgin Mobile, has been drawn into an alleged “jobs for favours” controversy in his native America.

Stephen Burch used to run the Atlantic division of Comcast, America’s largest cable company, until he became chief executive of NTL in January.

It has recently emerged that Burch was responsible for hiring a number of Maryland public officials, their relatives or their friends. At Comcast, these recruits were known as “FOBs”, or “friends of Burch”, according to a report in the Washington Post.

The most prominent example was Kendel Ehrlich, the wife of Maryland state governor Bob Ehrlich. The first lady was the executive producer and presenter of a 16-episode series on drug and alcohol abuse.

This and other examples have raised concerns that Burch and Comcast were seeking to influence policy-making decisions by giving jobs to people close to the sources of power. American cable companies have an interest in maintaining good relations with the local communities that grant them broadcast rights.

Bobbie Walton, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, part of a large citizens’ lobby group, said the controversy had prompted her to explore the possibility of new legislation to prevent companies exercising inappropriate influence.

Walton said: “What we have decided to do is to sit down with some friendly legislators to see what kind of legislation can be drafted to put constraints on the circumstances in which companies can seek to hire former elected officials and their spouses. We want to see if the process needs to be changed so there is more public notice and more transparency.”

She said hiring staff was “a business investment. If businesses are not making back from their investment more than they’re investing, then they’re making a very bad judgment.”

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Burch dismissed the controversy as “much ado about nothing”, adding: “There’s nothing inappropriate in the hiring of former elected officials.”

He said he had been friends with Kendel Ehrlich for 15 years, and that she had worked for him for 10 years, long before her husband became governor.

“She’s a brilliant woman,” he said. “If she wasn’t the first lady of the state of Maryland she would have been a senior executive in Comcast.”

Burch said the controversy was a politically motivated attempt to embarrass Governor Ehrlich, a Republican. “The irony is I am a Democrat,” Burch said.

NTL’s purchase of Virgin Mobile in a deal worth £962m will create a company able to offer its 9m customers television, broadband and fixed and mobile telephony.

Analysts at Enders Analysis said: “Our concerns centre on the power of the Virgin brand when it is applied to a business with a reputation for poor customer service and high prices.”

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