§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans his Department or OFTEL has to investigate the coupling of the sale of mobile phones with airtime agreements.
§ Mr. McLoughlinNeither my Department nor OFTEL have any current plans to investigate the linking of the sale of mobile phones with airtime agreements. OFTEL's position is that packages linking handsets with airtime contracts are not unreasonable so long as a satisfactory range of alternatives is available. OFTEL is not aware of complaints that customers wishing to purchase handsets and airtime contracts separately are unable to do so.