Ofcom unveils ads alerting consumers to BT deregulation

by Jennifer Whitehead, Brand Republic 19-Jul-06, 15:00

LONDON - Ofcom is to run an information campaign to alert consumers to the end of price regulation of BT line rental and call costs.

The campaign is managed by Ofcom, but funded jointly between the regulator and BT, and breaks tomorrow, running initially in national and regional newspapers and across outdoor sites. Further activity will run in print, outdoors and online, and BT will include a letter from Ofcom in all customer bills posted over the summer.

The campaign, created by freelance and in-house designers, informs consumers: "From August 1, it's your call."

It continues, stating: "in future you, not the regulator, will decide whether you think a phone company is good value or not".

Starcom MediaVest have executed the press planning and buying, while Outdoor Connection handled the outdoor strategy and Zed Media handled the online promotion. Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO worked on some production aspects of the campaign.

Ofcom has decided to remove the retail price controls on BT after 22 years because of the rapid growth of competition in phone services and the continued reduction of costs for customers.

The regulator is also looking ahead to the growth of voice-over-internet calls and the rise in the percentage of calls made on mobile phones instead of fixed lines.

BT welcomed the development, saying it was good news for consumers.

Ian Livingston, chief executive of BT Retail, said: "The UK has enjoyed one of the most competitive telecoms market in the world for a number of years and a freer BT will deliver even better value and innovation for our residential customers. We will now look at how we can simplify our pricing structures and make them more user-friendly."

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