Camelot's multimillion pound National Lottery network will have to be scrapped to make way for Sir Richard Branson's People's Lottery, if the industry regulator gets its way.

A National Lottery Commission spokesman said that, as part of the bidding, Camelot and Virgin had agreed to provide new networks with radically different technology for the next round of bidding.

Camelot used the X25 data network created by Racal, and a VSAT network to link terminals to retailers. The network's cost is unknown but the value of the terminals is £100m.

On Friday, Camelot said that it was taking legal action over its loss of the contract.

Branson has a month to adjust his bid and secure the contract with suppliers Microsoft, Energis and Cisco.

First published in Network News