Virgin Media and BT take Birmingham Council to court
# 2 November 2012, 10:40 by Cable Forum
VM and BT have filed a complaint against Birmingham City Council, citing the use of public money in an anti-competitive manner. The money came from the “super connected cities” fund announced in last year’s budget, and had been approved by the European Commission, which checks that public funding cannot be used to compete with private companies.
Virgin Media and BT believe this initiative overlaps with their provision, and the lack of “joined up” thinking by councils prevents appropriate bidding, as there is no “economy of scale”.
This matter is also being raised in the House of Lords by Lord Howarth, the Labour Peer.