§ 2.50 p.m.
§ Lord PenderMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current cost of a three-minute telephone call to Europe, and to the United States of America, and what the comparable costs were in 1961.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Lucas of Chilworth)My Lords, the cost of these calls in real terms has reduced. The current cost of a three-minute call to France is £1.30 at standard rate. In 1961 the comparable cost was 30 pence or 45 pence depending on distance, equivalent to £2.12 or £3.19 in today's terms. For the USA, the standard rate is now £2.05; the comparable cost in 1961 was £2.50, equivalent to £17.71 in today's terms.
§ Lord PenderMy Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for that reply. Would he give some information as to how this reduction in price has been achieved, and whether this trend of low cost is likely to continue?
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy Lords, since 1961 the capacity of undersea cables has increased dramatically. The introduction of telecommunication satellites in 1965 offered an alternative channel of power. Costs to the telephone user have accordingly reduced as overall available capacity has been increased. In so far as my noble friend's second supplementary is concerned, the pricing of international telecommunication services is of course a commercial matter for the companies involved, but I would expect the current trend to be continued.
§ Lord ArdwickMy Lords, has the noble Lord not noticed the solecism in the first part of the Question, a "telephone call to Europe"? Surely we are in Europe and are part of Europe? This kind of psychological isolation is embarrassing and perhaps even dangerous politically.
§ Lord Lucas of ChilworthMy Lords, I cannot see a politically dangerous situation arising out of my noble friend's Question, which merely sought information. He probably put it down in the form in which he thought I might understand it.
§ Lord Elwyn-JonesMy Lords, but is it not important that we do not go back to the days of the Fleet Street headline, "Fog over Channel. Continent cut off"?