Maltacom accused of blocking payphone access to One Voice

Keyworld Ltd has accused Maltacom of making payphones inaccessible to Keyworld's One Voice service, which allows customers to make low-cost international calls.

The Malta Communications Authority is investigating the complaint, the second in a week by Keyworld against Maltacom. Last week it filed a report that Maltacom was ignoring its request for the purchase of more international bandwidth.

MCA chairman Joseph Tabone said the authority was today expecting a reply from Maltacom on the payphones dispute and would then be relaying more information to Keyworld.

One Voice was launched by Keyworld earlier this month after the telecommunications sector was liberalised.

Customers are provided with an account that allows them to make cheap international phone calls from any fixed line, including payphones, or mobile phone by first dialling 21884773.

However, Keyworld general manager David Thake said that last Thursday the company started receiving complaints from tourists and locals who were attempting to make long distance calls through One Voice from payphones. They were getting a busy tone when they dialled 21884773.

Keyworld immediately wrote to Maltacom questioning whether this was a short-term hitch or a long-term decision.

"When we informed Maltacom of the situation on Friday we were told that all the numbers starting with 2188 and 2186 had been blocked as these were reserved for internet access," Mr Thake said.

Keyworld was informed that these prefixes were allocated for internet access by the National Numbering Plan administered by the MCA.

The One Voice access number was not accessed via a computer and modem but through a normal telephone handset, Mr Thake said.

Keyworld, he added, had never been offered the possibility to choose its access number and had never been advised by Maltacom that such a situation could ever arise.

"We have spent a bomb advertising this number and now our whole system is in disarray. Tourists are our prime source of revenue and the company is attempting to deny them our service," he said.

"We have received several complaints from both tourists and locals and we have had to explain the situation. Basically they do not care about these petty battles and the nation is becoming a laughing stock with tourists."

Mr Thake called on the government to intervene, saying the company it had shares in was hindering the liberalisation process.

When contacted, Maltacom chairman Maurice Zarb Adami said Maltacom was studying the situation and would be getting back to the MCA on the matter.

Mr Zarb Adami also pointed out that Keyworld was competing with Maltacom by offering its services through Maltacom's subsidised local calls.

"I think Keyworld is really creaming the top. The situation is more complex than it looks. One consideration is that the public payphones are run by a cooperative and Keyworld is now infringing on its revenue," he said.

Mr Zarb Adami said Maltacom plans to reply to the authority this week on Keyworld's request to buy more international bandwidth.