BT has been fined £6.3 million by Ofcom for failing to give rival telecoms group Eir the same information as its own team in a competition for a lucrative public sector contract in the north.
The nine-year contract for the Northern Ireland public sector shared network (NIPSSN) was valued at £50m in 2017, potentially rising to £400m.
It involves the provision of telecoms services to more than 150 public sector bodies across 2,000 sites in the north, including schools, police stations and government buildings.
The Department of Finance declared BT the winner in June 2018, but Ofcom launched an investigation after a complaint by Irish telecoms rival Eir.
Under Ofcom’s rules, BT's network division must treat all wholesale customers equally, including BT's own customer-facing business.
But the regulator said it found that BT broke its rules by failing to provide Eir with the same information about its Fibre to the Premises on Demand (FOD) as BT's own team.
BT's network arm told Eir that FOD was not suitable and had "delivery limitations" while BT's bid team was told it could be used for major network projects, Ofcom said.
Concerns by Ofcom over the independence of BT’s network division led to Openreach becoming a legally separate company within the BT group in 2018.
The failures highlighted by the watchdog occurred before that legal separation.
BT Northern Ireland Networks, which maintains the telecoms network in the north, rebranded as Openreach in 2018.
Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom's director of enforcement, said: "BT's network arm broke our rules by failing to treat a rival company and BT's own bid team equally during the tender for a major public sector contract in Northern Ireland.
"Our fine reflects how important these rules are, and how seriously we take compliance."
Ofcom said the £6.3m fine incorporates a 30 per cent reduction in light of BY admitting full liability.
The regulator said it did not believe the breaches it found were deliberate, and it has not made any finding on whether the breach of the rules ultimately affected the outcome of the tender process.
But Eir Business Northern Ireland’s regional director, Philip O’Meara claimed BT had “unduly discriminated” against the Irish company.
“The size of the fine imposed by Ofcom on BT illustrates the gravity of BT's behaviour,” he said.
“We firmly believe that had BT complied with its regulatory obligations, we would have retained the NIPSSN contract.
“We are considering our options in light of today's decision and BT's admission of liability.
“Eir Business Northern Ireland is keenly committed to its customers and to ensuring a fair and competitive market place for telecoms services.”
A spokesman for BT Group said: "We regret the level of service we provided to this communications provider during this tender process in Northern Ireland.
"We've cooperated with and accepted Ofcom's findings and have already put measures in place to prevent this happening again.
"We also continue to review how we can improve our service.
"Ofcom recognises that these errors weren't deliberate and that we took a number of steps to comply with the regulatory obligations.
"Based on Ofcom's decision, we don't believe this impacted the tender outcome.”
