§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cable franchises have been allocated since 1984; to which companies and when; what is the proportion of foreign ownership in each; and how many homes have been cabled up by each contractor.
§ Mr. MellorSince 1984 the Cable Authority has allocated 53 cable franchises. I understand that on 1 January 1990 a total of 303,427 households were connected to cable systems, of which 88,006 were connected to broadband cable. I have placed in the Library a list of the other information requested, where this is not commercially confidential.