§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the areas of the United Kingdom which have been cabled to date and those areas which are programmed for cabling over the next 12 months.
§ Mr. McLoughlinTo date, 125 franchises have been licensed, covering 14.5 million homes. Services are now being offered in 65 of these franchises and cable networks now pass over 3 million homes. The cable operators will continue to build out their franchises over the course of the next few years in line with the build obligations set out in their licences. The Department does not hold precise details of the areas which have been cabled, and the630W construction plans of the cable operators for the next 12 months are primarily a matter for the companies themselves.