§ 35. Mrs. LaitTo ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects the European Community to deregulate telecommunications.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe Telecommunications Council agreed on 16 June 1993 that voice telephony services will be liberalised by 1 January 1998, with an additional derogation period of no more than five years for Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland and, if justified, no more than two years for Luxembourg. The Commission will produce, by 1995, a green paper on the liberalisation of network infrastructure. The Commission presented on 7 December its proposals for the liberalisation of telecommunications services provided over satellites.
§ 39. Ms HoeyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what measures he has taken to help the British telecommunications industry.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe Government's policies on telecommunications remain as set out in the 1991 White Paper "Competition and Choice: Telecommunications Policy for the 1990s" Cm 1461. These policies have already brought great benefits to domestic and business subscribers, and are already developing a healthy and competitive telecoms industry in Britain able to take on the best in the world.