§ Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smithasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to bring into force sections 37 to 41 of the Broadcasting Act 1984 providing for the establishment of direct broadcasting by satellite services by the Independent Broadcasting Authority; whether he has any plans to seek to extend the length of the contract period stipulated in section 38 of that Act; and what transmission standards will be required for these services.
§ Mr. HurdI have made an order bringing these provisions into force on 1 April and intend to take an early legislative opportunity to extend the contract period for the provision of a DBS service from 12 to 15 years. The Government's policy on transmission standards is that, subject to any significant new factors emerging, C-MAC should be used for all DBS services.