§ Mr. Spellerasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will ask the Director General of Fair Trading to inquire into the effect on potential competitors in the supply of telecommunications equipment of delays by British Telecom in testing such equipment.
§ Mr. WakehamNo. Many categories of subscriber apparatus are already open to competitive supply, subject to certification by British Telecom, and I understand that delays in the testing of these kinds of apparatus are generally regarded as within reasonable limits. Where apparatus is still supplied exclusively by British Telecom, my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Industry announced to the House on 21 July 1980 that competition would be phased in over a three year period in order to give the United Kingdom telecommunications manufacturing industry time to prepare for the onset of competition. British Telecom has co-operated with the Department of Industry to set up arrangements for the testing and interim approval of modems and extension telephones; these arrangements were announced on 16 November by my hon. Friend the Minister for Industry and Information Technology, and are now working. Other classes of apparatus will be opened to competitive supply according to the target programme he announced.