§ Sir Sydney ChapmanTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the average domestic telephone bill in the year before the privatisation of British Telecom; and what is the current equivalent. [37668]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorPrices for a basket of BT's commonly used services have fallen by 40 per cent. in real terms since 1984. I understand from BT that the median quarterly bill of a typical residential customer in the year prior to privatisation was £25.82—excluding connection charges. This represents £45.59 in 1995–96 terms— adjusted for inflation. Since then, residential phone users on average have increased their use of the telephone, and this is reflected in the median quarterly BT residential478W bill in 1995–96 being £46.31. Over this period, residential phone users have benefited from significant reductions in the real price of individual services, and innovative improvements in quality.