§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the President of the Board of Trade on what evidence the statement by the Minister for Small Firms, Trade and Industry that it would soon be as cheap to telephone France or Spain as it currently is to make local calls in London was based. [24759]
§ Mrs. Beckett[holding answer 22 January 1998]: On 1 January this year, legislation came into force which liberalised telecommunicatins services within the European Union. Our experience on international routes where competition is already allowed has shown that prices can fall considerably—for example between the UK and US, consumers are now being offered calls at as little as 5p a minute. On that basis if there is effective competition and regulation throughout Europe, there is every reason to believe that it should be little or no more expensive to call the rest of Europe than to make a local call in the UK today.