§ Dr. Glynasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether he will give a general direction to British Telecom to permit consumers access to enable them to check their individual telephone meters.
§ Mr. ButcherNo. This is a matter for British Telecom and it is not the Government's policy to intervene in such matters. In practice, access to such meters at the exchange would neither be useful to the customer nor practicable.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Industry whether measures will be taken to prevent the transference of subsidies within British Telecom from areas where it has a licensed monopoly to competitive parts of its business.
§ Mr. ButcherYes. The regulatory arrangements provided for in the legislation currently before Standing Committee H are indeed intended to prevent the 293W subsidisation of the competitive parts of BT's business from the profits of the licensed monopoly parts of the business.