§ Mr. CranTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how he plans to review the commitment given by the Government in November 1983 that they did not intend to license operators other than British Telecommunications and Mercury Communications to provide basic fixed-link telecommunications for a period of seven years.
§ Mr. LilleyWe will publish a consultative document in the autumn setting out the issues to be reviewed and indicating where appropriate the Government's preferred options. The review will be wide-ranging and will be conducted in close association with the Director General of Telecommunications. It will cover local and trunk telephone services, cable entertainment services and international telecommunications. There will be a period for public comment, after which the Government will aim to announce their decisions early in the new year.