O2 hits back in billing court battle

MOBILE phones giant O2 has filed its defence in the bitter dispute with tiny airtime reseller Open Air over alleged mis-billing. It is understood that O2's defence makes some admissions of problems with charging.

Financial Mail revealed last year how Open Air discovered huge discrepancies in bills for its customers who use the O2 network. Open Air claims O2 has ruined its business.

O2 (still formally known as mmO2) went to court last week seeking extra time to file a defence, but its application was denied and costs for the hearing awarded against it, according to Open Air director Tony Lloyd-Wright.

Almost immediately, O2 followed up by filing a defence document. The case will come to court next month.

One major problem alleged by Open Air is what it described as the 'rollover ramraid', which involved 'free' minutes not being carried forward from one month to the next.

Independent consultants supported claims by Open Air that some bills had incorrect call data records - the basic information-from which bills are calculated.

Scores of readers also wrote to Financial Mail with complaints, including a failure to bill for text messages for months at a time.

O2 insisted that when it did make mistakes, it normally corrected them before the customer had noticed.

The Ofcom regulator said it was powerless to probe allegations by Open Air because EU rules mean that only 'end user' complaints can be investigated - not those brought by a third party.