§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what actions he intends to take to ensure that suppliers of ADSL services do not dilute contention ratios beyond those quoted in their sales literature; and if he will make a statement. [138329]
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§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 14 November 2000]ADSL service suppliers are expected to specify a number of quality/performance parameters as part of their sales literature. It is likely that the suppliers will specify contention ratio as one of the quality parameters within a service contract and they will be commercially obligated to fulfil their contractual requirements concerning quality of service. Competition in supply of ADSL services will enable customers to select their preferred ADSL supplier based on quality and price. It is therefore for market forces to determine which services consumers are likely to demand and what price consumers are willing to pay for such services based on service quality information.