HC Deb 28 January 1999 vol 324 cc311-2W
Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to ensure that telecommunications companies advertise the rate which they are charging on telephone numbers found in advertisements and say whether callers are being charged whilst held in a queue; and if he will make a statement. [66955]

Mr. Wills

The regulation of telecoms operators is a matter for Oftel. Oftel requires all operators to publish their tariffs. In addition, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) has a Code of Practice under which the costs of calls to Premium Rate Services must be given in advertisements.

Information given to callers by queuing systems is a matter for businesses running those systems, not the telecoms operators, and Oftel has no powers to regulate how such end users operate their systems. However, Oftel has encouraged the drawing up of a Code of Practice for such businesses which answer calls from the public. This Code recommends that messages on call queuing systems should tell callers when their call has been answered. The callers should then realise that the call is being charged.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to restrict the prices charged by telecommunications companies for their premium rate calls. [66956]

Mr. Wills

The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) has responsibility for Premium Rate Services (PRS) in its capacity as the regulator for the Premium Rate Industry. It publishes and enforces a Code of Practice which has provisions limiting the time spent by callers on these services. This has the effect of limiting the cost of calls, and some services are required to be terminated automatically after a given period. The Code also has provisions limiting the total amount of money spent on certain services.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the regulation of the telecommunications industry's call charges. [66954]

Mr. Wills

Oftel sets and is responsible for enforcing the current price controls on the telecommunications industry.

Competition in the telecommunications industry continues to develop and, while it does, Oftel directly regulates the prices of BT, the dominant provider of telecoms services in the UK. In relation to residential consumers and small businesses, BT is required to reduce its main prices by 4.5 per cent. below the rate of inflation, and to focus this control on protecting the first 80 per cent. of residential customers by bill size. Thus consumers who are on a lower income are protected more formally than those higher spending customers who are more likely to have benefited significantly from deep price cuts in international calls. This price control will remain in place until July 2001.