PHONE company One.Tel was rapped by authorities yesterday for deceiving customers by saying no one offered cheaper calls to the mainland when five of its rivals had lower rates.
One.Tel unfairly advertised its rates to the mainland as being at 'record' lows, despite charging up to $1 a minute more than its competitors were at the time, the industry watchdog said.
The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (Ofta) said One.Tel misled potential customers. It ordered the company not to make similar claims in future unless they could be backed up.
The advertisements appeared in newspapers in August and said charges to China under the company's 1686 IDD service had 'dropped to bottom'.
'Whatever you say, no one can be lower than us,' the adverts said.
'Now, for calls to China, the drop in IDD charges breaks a new record and hits a new low.'
