§ Mr. Spellerasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will ensure that any marking order made in respect of telephones and telephone attachments does not penalise unfairly firms entering the market; and if he will seek to prevent any unreasonable delay by British Telecom in providing standards which will apply to itself and its competitors.
§ Mr. WakehamOrders to be made under sections 17 and 18 of the British Telecommunications Act are intended to protect British Telecom's network and subscribers from a deterioration in service that could result from the widespread connection of apparatus that is not built to an appropriate standard. The orders will ensure that users are aware whether apparatus is approved for connection to the 97W network and will protect market entrants who wish to supply approved apparatus against unfair competition from products designed to lower standards.
Standards to form the basis for the independent approval of apparatus are being written by the British Standards Institution (BSI). The Department is following this work closely and I am satisfied that this is being done as quickly as BSI's consensus procedures allow.