I cannot believe I'm reading this:
Quote:
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To ensure a high level of service, NTL are insisting that all Direct Enquiries Service Providers agree in to a minimum level of service and quality, we are currently in negotiations with these suppliers. Once we have completed negotiations we will open up these 118 numbers.
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Since when did ntl feel the need to vet the service standards of companies we might want to phone up? Do they phone all chat lines before allowing them to be accessed through the ntl network? Do they phone all the banks to see if their call centres are up to it before we are allowed to use our home phone to call them?
I don't need this big brother approach from ntl. I'm old enough to decide for myself who I want to call from my home phone, and mature enough to decide for myself whether I'm getting decent quality service from those I choose to call.
Let's be honest about this. Ntl are not forced to provide access to competitor services through their network in the way BT is and have chosen to take advantage of this. Once they have got all their customers used to dialling 118 878, and the competition's ad campaigns have finished running on TV, then they will 'decide' who is up to scratch and give access to those numbers. Of course by then it will be too late for most folks, who will have forgotten they are meant to have a choice.