WEST Tyrone Assembly Member Eugene Mc Menamin has called for a review of the terms and conditions under which independent telephone companies competing with BT operate. His call comes after a family were left without a phone over the entire Christmas period.
Cllr McMenamin said, "I am in favour of the deregulation of telephone services to encourage better competition and for that reason I am very concerned that one or two rotten apples in the barrel may put people off switching to get better deals.
"My constituent was left without a phone service over the entire Christmas period and despite my best efforts to have the problem solved I was unable to do so because the company would not talk to me. They used the Data Protection Act to prevent any dialogue and that is an abuse of the law which conveniently enables them to do nothing.
"The government must review the terms and conditions under which these telephone providers operate because it is clear to me that not all of them are providing the service they promise and are in danger of putting people off switching to get a better deal."
