C&W nets £15m Centrica deal

Cable & Wireless has extended an existing deal with Centrica, worth £15m, to route all non-area code phone calls made by customers of Centrica Telecommunications.

The extension of an earlier three-year agreement will now see C&W route all calls to 0845, 0870, 0871, 0844 and 09X numbers for Centrica customers until at least 2006.

Centrica Telecommunications' 1.4 million customers are covered by two brands - cut-price BT-baiter One.Tel and British Gas Communications.

Ian El-Mokadem, managing director of Centrica Telecommunications, said in a statement: "This further agreement with Cable & Wireless allows us to maintain our low cost base and cement our competitive position within the residential market."

El-Mokadem added that the benefit such agreements provide is the ability to get close enough to compete with BT.

"Through deals such as this, we will continue to exert price pressure on BT," he added.