§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the penetration of the United Kingdom retail telephone industry of imports from the far east, and upon their effect on the telephone manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Redwood[holding answer 20 January 1992]A full measure of penetration into the United Kingdom retail telephone market of imports from the far east cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost. The most recent figures available from the Central Statistical Office show that telephone handsets worth £74 million were imported from the far east in the first 10 months of 1991.
The United Kingdom has an open telecommunications equipment market. The consumer has benefited considerably from this and can now choose from more than 500 approved items of retail terminal equipment. United Kingdom equipment suppliers themselves take advantage of low costs of manufacture in the far east. Some major suppliers import the more basic handsets to complement their own manufacture of higher value, more sophisticated, telephones and systems while others design in the United Kingdom and source from manufacturing plants abroad.