BT.A Bt Group Plc

(Updates with Virgin Media, EE responses.)

By Adam Clark

Virgin Media said Friday that it will appeal a fine levied by U.K. telecommunications regulator Ofcom for overcharging customers who ended their contracts early.

Ofcom fined Liberty Global PLC's (LBTYA) Virgin Media 7.0 million pounds ($8.1 million) over excessive charges for customers who ended contracts early. The regulator said that almost 82,000 customers were affected and overpaid a total of just under GBP2.8 million.

Virgin Media accepted that it overcharged 1.5% of its cable customers between September 2016 and August 2017. However, it defended its use of early-exit charges and said it rejected Ofcom's claim that they dissuaded customers from switching provider.

"This unreasonable decision and excessive fine does not reflect the swift actions we took, the strong evidence we have presented, or our consistent, open and transparent cooperation with the regulator. We will be appealing Ofcom's decision," VM Chief Executive Tom Mockridge said.

Ofcom also fined BT Group PLC's (BT.A.LN) EE GBP6.3 million for overcharging customers on discounted deals who ended their contracts early. The regulator said that over a six-year period, 400,000 customers overpaid up to GBP4.3 million in early-exit charges.

EE said it accepted Ofcom's findings and has already refunded customers and changed the way it calculates early-exit charges.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com; @AdamDowJones

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 16, 2018 04:52 ET (09:52 GMT)

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