§ Mr. AustinTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what reports he has received of variations in the costs of maintaining and operating the telecommunication infrastructure in different parts of the United Kingdom; and what assessment he has made of the economic impact of such variations. [98395]
§ Ms HewittOFTEL, the UK's independent telecommunications regulator, carried out a thorough study of the cost of providing a universal telecommunications service throughout the United Kingdom in 1997. This included consideration of the costs of serving areas of the country which would be uneconomic on a normal commercial basis. OFTEL issued a further consultation on universal service in July this year which considered whether the conclusions of the 1997 study were still valid. The consultation period on this document closed on 29 October. OFFEL intend to publish their conclusions early next year.
§ Mr. AustinTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what(a) advice and (b) guidance he has issued to the regulator regarding telecommunication charges; and if he will make a statement. [98396]
§ Ms HewittTelecommunication charges are crucial to the development of e-commerce in the UK. I discussed this issue when I met with the Director General of Telecommunications on 28 October. However, OFTEL is an independent regulator and it would not be appropriate for me to give him guidance on such issues.
§ Mr. AustinTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the relationship between the cost of high speed telecommunication and data links and the location of disaster recovery centres; and if he will make a statement. [98397]