§ Baroness Lane-Foxasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will name the successful applicants for cable pilot project licences.
§ Lord EltonThirty-seven applicants for pilot project licences have been received and given careful consideration with the help of an evaluation carried out by EIU Informatics Ltd. based on the criteria set out in the White Paper on the Development of Cable Systems and Services (Cmnd. 8866) and on advice from an independent advisory panel appointed to consider whether the EIU report represented a sound and proper basis for decisions as to the grant of licences. We now propose holding discussions with 11 applicants to explore further some specific points in their applications. Provided that these discussions are 547WA concluded to our satisfaction we shall issue pilot project licences to them. Those applications are:
Aberdeen Cable Services Ltd. Aberdeen CableTel Communications Ltd. Ealing Clyde Cable Vision Ltd. North Glasgow Coventry Cable Ltd. Coventry Croydon Cable Television Ltd. Croydon Merseyside Cable Vision Ltd. South Liverpool Rediffusion Consumer Electronics Ltd. Guildford Swindon Cable Services Ltd. Swindon Ulster Cablevision Ltd. Belfast Westminster Cable Company City of Westminster Windsor Television Ltd. Windsor, Slough and Maidenhead It will of course be open to those applicants not selected at this stage to put forward applications under arrangements to be operated by the Cable Authority whose creation will be the subject of cable legislation to be introduced in this House early next month.
Additionally, as also foreseen in the White Paper, we have received applications for licences from 11 existing operators to provide new programme services over established systems in 166 areas. Consideration of these is not yet completed.