§ Mr. LazarowiczTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had regarding the collapse of Atlantic Telecom; and if she will make a statement. [18279]
§ Mr. AlexanderI met with my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen, Central (Mr. Doran) on 19 November and with my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith on 21 November. From these meetings, and those which the Scottish Executive Minister held at the same time, we were clear about the difficulties facing Atlantic's business customers in particular.
I then had discussions with the Director General of Telecommunications on 20 November expressing my resolve that everything possible should be done to smooth the transfer of customers from Atlantic to other operators. I then met the Chief Executive of BT, Sir Peter Bonfield, and the Group Commercial Director, Colin Green, on 22 November where I sought BT's assistance to ensure that they would expedite the connection of ex-Atlantic customers. BT assured me it would do all it could to help facilitate a quick transfer of customers.
As a result of further intensive discussions, we therefore announced on 24 November, along with the Scottish Executive Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, a £0.5 million joint rescue package, extending the operation of fixed wireless telephone services to allow customers to switch to an alternative telecoms supplier. The extended operation will end on 2 January 2002 at the latest.