BT bags O2 directory services contract

Must have been some tricky negotiation involved to bring these two old buddies together...

Following hot on the heels of BT's contract to supply directory services to T-mobile customers, the telco has landed a similar deal with another provider – its old stablemate, O2. The service will be offered to O2's 12 million customers via BT's 118 500 number, replacing the old 192 service that fell foul of Oftel's competition regulations earlier in the year. The one-year contract will mean BT will supply its former mobile arm's users with phone number searches, cinema listings and Call Connect – where a caller can be put straight through to the number they require by the BT operator. Mobile users will have to be prepared to shell out for the service, though. While calls to directory enquiries from a BT landline cost a mere 30p a minute, its mobile equivalent will cost users 65p for the same length of time.