§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Secretary of State for Industry on what basis the fees charged by his Department and British Telecom for testing telecommunications apparatus have been calculated.
§ Mr. ButcherThe fees charged for the evaluation of subscriber's telecommunications apparatus under the interim arrangements for approving such apparatus announced by my hon. Friend the Minister for Information Technology on 16 November 1981 have been calculated by British Telecom and cover the estimated costs to BT of the services they provide. Fees cover the costs incurred by BT in terms of man hours in the test laboratories (including an estimate of the cost of re-testing, which was expected and which is proving necessary in nearly all cases), overheads and the administration required to process technical information and to discuss modifications with applicants.
Where apparatus does not require modification prior to approval an appropriate refund is made. The fees also cover BT's costs in concluding the customary agreement with suppliers under which BT is indemnified against any damage or injury that may be caused by the approved apparatus as a result of its connection to BT's networks.
A substantial part of the fees charged is intended to cover the costs associated with testing the speech reception and transmission of apparatus. The further interim approval arrangements which I announced on 27 May cover some apparatus which does not incorporate speech facilities and for this apparatus the minimum fee has been reduced from £2,000 to £1,000.