§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what plans he has to encourage flat-rate pricing to reduce the cost of access to the internet; [97995]
(2) what steps are being taken to reduce the cost of access to the internet through flat-rate pricing. [97971]
§ Ms HewittThe Government are committed to ensuring the wide availability of fast and affordable internet access and believe that competition is the best way to deliver this. We want to see operators responding to these competitive pressures by offering a broader range of internet tariff options to allow heavy e-commerce users and light users to choose the optimum package for their usage profile. There are no regulatory barriers to prevent operators from including unmetered tariffs in this range of tariff options. I have discussed these points with Oftel, BT and the Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications and will continue to encourage operators to respond positively so that the cost of internet access can be reduced.