HC Deb 08 July 1992 vol 211 cc206-7W
36. Mr. Nigel Jones

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the ranking of the United Kingdom in terms of local telephone charges compared to other countries in the OECD.

Mr. Leigh

Comparisons of individual telephone call prices can be misleading. Factors such as duration of call, time of day, distance and charging structure all have to be taken into account. Oftel publishes annually a comparison of the prices in the United Kingdom for typical residential and business customers. The most recent produced the following comparisons.

Country Residential Basket Business Basket
United Kingdom (BT) 100 100
France 78 92
Germany (DB) 99 99
Italy 105 133

Notes:

United Kingdom = 100; conversion of currencies by means of purchasing power parities (PPPs).

United Kingdom tariff for local calls have fallen by between 14 and 19 per cent. since privatisation.