HC Deb 18 July 1990 vol 176 c633W
52. Mr. Dicks

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what studies have been made of the cost of creating a national fibre optic network.

56. Mr. Summerson

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what studies have been conducted of the cost of creating a national fibre optic network.

113. Mr. Arbuthnot

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the cost of creating a national fibre optic network.

Mr. Forth

The study by the PA Consulting Group, "Evolution of the United Kingdom Communications Infrastructure" (HMSO 1988), which was commissioned by my Department, contains estimates comparing the costs of development of the communications infrastructure under various scenarios. The report includes an estimate that over the period 1991–2010 the creation and maintenance of a national fibre optic grid would cost approximately £82 billion, compared to £61 billion for a network that might be expected to result from a continuation of what the study describes as the current system of lightly regulated competition.