Tories jump on Oftel-slamming bandwagon

Michael Portillo, the shadow chancellor, has added his voice to the growing chorus of disapproval against the beleaguered UK telecom watchdog Oftel.

Speaking at the launch of a data hosting centre in London's Docklands, Portillo accused the government of being slow to react to the important task of unbundling local networks and failing to curb the power of BT.

"We are not where we should be in cabling in this country. We've been looking and talking about unbundling the local loop for far too long. These critical political issues need to be driven with far more force," said Portillo.

Portillo said that the "burden of regulation, continued monopolies and the speed in which the government reacts" is hampering the UK's position as the commercial and information centre of Europe. He urged for the breakup of the "old monopolies".

His remarks are in contrast to that of e-minister Patricia Hewitt, who this week defended Oftel's record. She said the government would continue to back the watchdog in taking the tough decisions needed to deliver more competition, more choice and lower prices.

Portillo was attending the launch of an internet data centre set up by GlobalCenter, a subsidiary of US carrier Global Crossing. The data centres will provide companies with web hosting facilities and internet infrastructure over IP based networks.