§ 9. Mr. SpellerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the cost of telephone calls to and from service personnel in the Falkland Islands and Ascension Island.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. Roger Freeman)The cost of telephone calls from the United Kingdom for a British Telecom call is £2.30 per minute to the Falkland Islands for an operator-connected call, and £1.42 per minute to Ascension Island for a direct dialled call. The cost of calls back to the United Kingdom from both places is £1.50 per minute for a Cable and Wireless Plc direct dialled call.
§ Mr. SpellerIs my hon. Friend aware that, although our forces on the Falkland Islands and on Ascension Island are well-led, well-paid and all the other good things, communications are bad? One may telephone the United States for 81p a minute and Australia for £1.02 a minute, but our forces have to pay £1.50 a minute during the day, night, weekends and so on. Will he seek some form of concession so that our various forces at least pay a reasonable charge for communicating with their families?
§ Mr. FreemanMy hon. Friend will appreciate that the rate is commercial and obviously has to be fixed by the 157 company. I am glad to tell my hon. Friend that over Christmas and the new year there will be a discount of one third on calls back to the United Kingdom. I shall be glad to draw my hon. Friend's comments to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownDefence of the Falklands is clearly reliant on royal fleet auxiliaries. Is it the Government's intention to procure AOR2 before Christmas?
§ Mr. FreemanI am sure that the hon. Gentleman would not expect me to comment on that matter.