§ Mr. RoweTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what additional measures are being taken to reduce the burden of licensing requirements under the Wireless Telegraphy Acts.
§ Mr. AtkinsMy Department is today laying a set of regulations under section 1 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 which will further reduce licensing requirements, in line with intentions expressed in the White Paper "Releasing Enterprise" (Cm 512), published in November 1988.
The regulations are designed to exempt certain low-power radio devices for industrial and non-industrial use from licensing requirements: induction, telemetry and telecommand, speech communications, field disturbance, alarm and general purpose devices. This covers a wide range of devices, including certain industrial remote control equipment and some security and burglar alarms, to domestic items such as garage door openers, and children's toys.
This is a far-reaching piece of deregulation, affecting industrial, retail and scientific users, and the general public. It is estimated that a further 25,000 licences will no longer be required. For the present the new arrangements will not apply in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, but free, once-and-for-all licences will be issued for devices which would otherwise be exempt.
The regulations are due to come into force on 1 May 1989.