BT has decided to stop advertising any of its broadband products for the duration of its £10m broadband awareness campaign, which will runs until 1 October, in an attempt to avoid claims that some of the telco's own business units -- such as BT Retail and BTopenworld -- might unfairly benefit from the ad blitz. "BT will not be advertising any of its broadband products during the period of the £10m advertising campaign," a BT spokesman told ZDNet UK News. "We agreed this with Oftel, but I don't know whether this is a formal arrangement or just an informal understanding," he added. According to Oftel, though, no deal exists at all, and there is no limit on how much advertising BT can do. "There is no agreement between Oftel and BT about this. BT's advertising strategy is its decision, and it's up to BT how they run this broadband advertising campaign," an Oftel spokeswoman insisted. Sources indicate, though, that regulatory issues are at the heart of BT's decision. "I would be very surprised if this didn't involve a deal between BT and Oftel, with the direction coming from Oftel," an informed source told ZDNet UK News. The £10m campaign, called Possibilities, promises to be one of the most intensive marketing drives ever launched in Britain. It features Pulp's lead singer Jarvis Cocker, fantasy characters fighting at Victoria Station, and two claymation pigs from Aardman Animations.
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