As operators within the online bingo industry see a downturn in online players as a result of the unusually hot weather in the UK, there will be a sigh of relieve that Unions have announced that next weeks strike at BT has been called off.

The strike which was to be the first by BT employees in over 20 years has been scrapped due to "legal technicalities", the Communications Workers Union confirmed yesterday. The strike which would have come into effect next week may have had a significant impact on broadband and telephone lines, and customer faults could take weeks to put right. While BT had stated it 'had contingency plans' there is much concern within the telecoms industry as plans are made to ballot BT members again. Many internet service providers (ISPs) lease their broadband lines from BT Wholesale. Like BT, these ISPs are dependent on BT engineers to keep the network running and to fix faults.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) confirmed that a strike by BT engineers and call centre staff could have a “significant impact” on internet services throughout the UK.

“Although BT might move call centre operations to other centres, it's really on the engineering side of things that things will be felt most keenly.

“The biggest impact could be in fixing faults on exchanges or broadband lines - which would be on hold for the duration of a strike - and things that are scheduled to happen, such as laying new fibre or upgrading exchanges, wouldn't happen.”

While a 24 hour strike is unlikely to cause major problems for the majority of people, prolonged strikes by its members in the UK, as seen at British Airways recently could have a major impact on the UK. The decision to call off the strike, pending further ballots of members is likely to give both parties the opportunities to discuss their differences. Attitudes to date suggest both parties are unlikely to move in the near term and strike action inevitable.

While bingo clubs are unlikely to be as affected by any disruptions, they do rely on phone lines to provide the ability to run linked games. One operator told us: "If lines were to develop a fault we would have to review participation in link games, however generally bingo lines have many telephone and ISDN lines and as such unless all lines are down the effects temporary measures can be taken"

Generally the hot weather in the summer months reduces the number of people that spend time online, and online retails sales take a dip. We have spoken to several online operators that have suggested that the traffic to their sites was down in the month of June and with many forecasters suggesting that the UK could enjoy one of the best summers we have had in a long time this could prove to be a difficult time for online bingo operators. Many online bingo operators will be also be relieved that the new coalition government have not made any suggestion about reviewing tax regime for online bingo operators that attract UK customers.

What is the strike about?

BT had recently upped its tabled 2 per cent offer to the 50,000 communications workers currently threatening industrial action, by promising 2 per cent this year and 3 per cent next, along with performance-related bonuses.

BT is paying a 6 per cent dividend following its recently-announced billion pound annual profits, and the performance jump has seen BT's chief executive, Ian Livingston, trouser a £1.206 million bonus.

The union says its members deserve more than 2 per cent.