§ Mr. Austin-WalkerTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received from Oftel to be given overall responsibility for the change in telephone codes due to take place in 1995; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinWe have not received any such representations. Oftel is already working to ensure that, wherever possible, telecoms operators and the manufac- turers and maintainers of telephony equipment discharge their responsibilities to their customers in relation to the national code change in a timely and co-ordinated way so as to minimise any costs and disruption to the end-user.
§ Mr. Austin-WalkerTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to enable Oftel to take over control and allocation of telephone numbers; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. McLoughlinThe 1991 White Paper, "Competition and Choice: Telecommunications Policy for the 1990s" (Cm 1461) made it clear that Oftel would be taking action to enable it to administer a national numbering plan. Operators' licences were subsequently amended to provide Oftel with the necessary powers once numbering conventions had been published and a specified numbering scheme determined. Oftel intends to take over responsibility for the allocation of numbers during the first half of 1994.
§ Mr. Austin-WalkerTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the current telephone network operators; and what is his estimate of the likely number of telephone network operators in April 1995.
§ Mr. McLoughlinSince the publication of the 1991 White Paper, "Competition and Choice: Telecommunications Policy for the 1990s" (Cm 1461), licences have been granted, in addition to those already granted to BT and Mercury Communications Ltd, to the following companies to run fixed-link public telecommunications systems throughout the United Kingdom: Ionica L3 Ltd; Energis Communications Ltd; Scottish Hydro-Electric plc; ScottishPower Telecommunications Ltd; Torch Communications Ltd; and MFS Communications Ltd. Applications for similar licences are also under consideration.
The number of licensed operators is expected to have increased by April 1995, but my Department does not produce estimates of the likely number of operators in future years. This will depend on the number of future applications and whether these meet the considerations which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has to take into account under the Telecommunications Act 1984 before granting a licence.
1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 Company winding-up orders 3,952 3,554 4,431 6,777 8,911 9,540 Bankruptcy orders 7,365 7,607 8,679 14,359 26,186 33,152 TOTAL 11,317 11,161 13,110 21,136 35,097 42,692
1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 Permanent 1,516 1,443 1,395 1,431 1,500 1,531 Casuals 1n/a 1n/a 10 24 85 158 TOTAL 1,516 1,443 1,405 1,455 1,585 1,689 1 Note: No separate record of casuals, numbers insignificant.