British Telecom: Customer Service (Hansard, 13 November 1985)

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, this is a detailed matter for British Telecom. The company has devoted considerable efforts towards modernising, extending and improving the range of services offered to its customers. Privatisation, liberalisation of products and services and competition have provided additional spurs to British Telecom's own efforts to meet and anticipate its customers' needs.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that many private users have been agreeably surprised at the speed with which British Telecom is now sometimes able to connect telephones? Is he equally aware however that there are areas, particularly industrial areas, where there is an urgent need for lines and people receive no promises or assurances at all that they will receive exchange lines to run their businesses? Has my noble friend noted that according to the Telecommunications Users' Association price increases have been cleverly disguised? They calculate price increases of 6.2 per cent. in dialled meter units and 8 per cent. on line rentals. Is this sensible at a time when enormously increased profits are being made by British Telecom? Ought we not to see price reductions as it becomes more competitive and more efficient?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I am sure that British Telecom will be grateful for the noble Lord's remarks regarding the connection of lines and I hope that it will also take note of the remarks he made about certain areas of business users. Regarding the recent price increases of British Telecom, my noble friend asked a question only about a couple of weeks ago, which my noble friend Lord Lucas of Chilworth answered. I have nothing to add to what my noble friend said on that day, except to say that, as my noble friend is no doubt aware, the Director General of Oftel has confirmed that the prices meet the terms of the licence but I think he had also other rerharks to make to British Telecom.

§ Lord Taylor of Gryfe
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the new price structure will benefit business where there is a 2½ per cent. reduction in charges on long-distance calls and where there is competition, at the expense of the domestic user whose prices up to 35 miles have increased by 31 per cent. and whose local calls have increased by 20 per cent. where there is a complete monopoly? Is this not an abuse of monopoly power?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, as I said to my noble friend Lord Orr-Ewing just now, the Director 270 General of Oftel has stated that these price rises meet the terms of the licence but I gather he also had various other remarks to make to British Telecom.

Lord Bruce of Donington
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that the figures for the price increases given to the House by his noble friend Lord Orr-Ewing. even though they may conform to the small print of the licence that was ultimately approved, certainly do not square with the repeated assurances given in this House and elsewhere that the price to domestic users would not rise by any more than the stipulated amount, and that they are in fact in breach of those undertakings?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I have really nothing further to add to what I have now already said twice: the Director General of Oftel has looked into these price increases and has said that they are within the terms of the licence. The overall price increase remains at 3 per cent. below inflation and will remain at that level until the end of this decade.

§ Lord Beswick
My Lords, is it not a fact that the Telecommunications Users' Association have said that these increases have been "an abuse of a private monopoly"? Has the noble Lord noticed that the Post Office, which remains in public ownership, has actually striven to reduce its costs?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I have indeed noticed that the price of a second-class stamp has gone down a penny. As for what the Telecommunications' Users' Association have said, I take note of their views and I am sure that the Director General of Oftel also has taken note of their views.

Lord Harmar-NichoIIs
My Lords, is it not a little early for this kind of criticism to be levelled at what is virtually a new management? If Oftel has expressed itself satisfied, are we to begin by saying that we are not prepared to accept the referee's decision?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I should tend to agree with my noble friend Lord Harmar-Nicholls. I think I should like to say that, as a result of the privatisation of British Telecom, there have been many improvements in the service. My noble friend Lord Orr-Ewing mentioned the reduction in waiting times for a connection of lines. I should also mention that the new telephone kiosks, which are a great deal less likely to be vandalised, are kept cleaner and are also much better for the disabled. Furthermore, one is now able to choose the kind of telephone one wants, which is a choice one did not have years ago. Your Lordships already have an example of that in this House.

Lord Winstanley
My Lords, is the noble Lord in a position to tell the House what progress British Telecom has made in the matter of the provision of detailed, itemised telephone bills where they are requested? Progress on that matter would very much increase consumer satisfaction, if not necessarily improve service. Can the noble Lord tell us what progress is being made on that matter?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, not in detail. That is obviously a matter for British Telecom. However, I understand that they are investing an enormous amount in new exchanges and once they are in place they will be able to give more detail on the accounts.

§ Baroness Burton of Coventry
My Lords, I think the noble Lord, Lord Harmar-Nicholls, has it wrong. The Minister has referred to the Director General of Oftel. Is it not correct that, far from being satisfied with what has been done by British Telecom, he has expressed the opinion that he hopes there will be a more proportionate distribution of profits at a later stage? Do the Government really approve of what British Telecom is doing; in other words, charging domestic subscribers far more than it really is allowed to, which is being hidden by a lesser increase in the rates for business users? When one divides the two it comes out at less than the increase in the cost of living, but really and truly is it not an abuse of what it is supposed to be doing?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I think I indicated to my noble friend Lord Orr-Ewing that, while the Director General of Oftel had said that the price increases were in line with the requirements of the licence, he had made other remarks to British Telecom about exactly what the noble Baroness has just said.

§ Lord Stoddart of Swindon
My Lords, in the light of what has happened in British Telecom, where the domestic consumers are being asked to pay much more, can we expect the same kind ofthing to happen in the gas industry when the gas industry is privatised? Are the domestic consumers to be expected to suffer?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, that is a completely different question, the answer to which is that the noble Lord will have to wait and see when the Bill comes before the House.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, does my noble friend not agree that Oftel had many qualifying remarks? It was only in one area that they said, "This is just within the formula". However, they were deeply disturbed. Oftel ultimately reports to the Secretary of State. Thus I hope the Government will remember that the Secretary of State has overriding authority and has to provide the teeth and support for Oftel. Also, has my noble friend ever tried to dial the operator or Directory Inquiries between the hours of six and eleven? The staff at BT now seem to be so thin on the ground, owing to its making economies, that one has to wait 10, 20 or even 30 minutes for an answer.

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, in answer to my noble friend's first question, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State will be well aware of them but I shall certainly make a point of drawing his attention to these remarks. The answer to my noble friend's second question is, no.

Lord Wallace of Coslany
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that I am one of those people who do not 272 like abbreviations? Will he inform the more ignorant of us exactly what Oftel means?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, Oftel is the Office of Telecommunications.

§ Lord Ritchie of Dundee
My Lords, may we hope that the remaks to which the noble Minister referred, made by the Director General of Oftel to British Telecom, will bear some fruit?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
Yes, my Lords.