2.3 Prior to the competition for this new contract BT were the dominant telecommunications supplier to the Department, providing most of their network and equipment and the Department were BT's biggest single customer. This meant that BT had a greater knowledge of the Department's fixed telecommunications requirements than any other bidder. In addition, BT are the only telecommunications supplier with a network covering the entire UK, and other bidders for the contract would have to use part of the BT network or invest large sums in laying their own network. Bidders told us that using BT's network would increase their business risks compared with BT and would limit their scope for innovation, as they would be relying on another supplier's equipment to deliver some of their services.