Committee (7th Day)

Part of Digital Economy Bill [HL] – in the House of Lords at 5:45 pm on 8 February 2010.

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Photo of Lord Clement-Jones Lord Clement-Jones Spokesperson for Culture, Media and Sport 5:45, 8 February 2010

My Lords, I feel somewhat like the Ancient Mariner at this part of the Bill. I am hoping that the Minister will give me a better reply than he has to previous clause stand part debates. The purpose behind this clause stand part debate is to ensure that the Government put on the record their spectrum policy to deliver 4G mobile telecoms and set out their key objectives. Consultations are currently taking place on the report by the Independent Spectrum Broker, Kip Meek. He clearly has tried to reconcile a number of interests within the confines of his brief from Government. A key assumption underlying his conclusions was that there is adequate competition in the mobile market. Are the ISB's conclusions still valid now in the light of the reduction in the number of mobile operators through the merger of T-Mobile and Orange? The Government have acknowledged this to a degree in their extension of the consultation period.

Will there be an adequate portfolio of spectrum between the various competitors as a result of an auction process for the 800 megahertz freed up by analogue TV switchover-the so-called digital dividend-and the currently unused 2.6 gigahertz spectrum? This is one of the key questions. Will the proposals really have the maximum possible effect in terms of promoting competition in the mobile sector, as claimed by the impact assessment? Why is there no proposed special provision for new entrants as there was when the 2.1 gigahertz spectrum was auctioned? Does this not mean that the auction process is essentially a closed one, confined to existing operators? Why auction the 800 megahertz at the same time as the 2.6 gigahertz? Why not auction the former before the 800 megahertz is freed up from digital TV switchover? Why deal with our spectrum wholly separately from the process on the continent? Should we not be looking at this on a pan-European basis?

Are the emergency channels properly dealt with? Will there be adequate free spectrum for the Olympics, as the Government guaranteed in their bid? Save Our Sound highlighted the problems faced by the programme-making and special events sector, where a whole range of wireless radio microphones and similar equipment will be rendered obsolete by the auction of the 800 megahertz spectrum. The Government made reference to the issue in the Digital Britain White Paper, but what concrete proposals are there now by Government to meet their costs of enforced migration from 800 megahertz, which will add up to tens of millions of pounds? What justification is there to extend the 2.1 gigahertz 3G licences? Is that really necessary to stimulate further investment? Why have the expected financial benefits not yet been quantified in the impact assessment for the Bill? Will the annual licence fee, the administrative incentive pricing arrangement, be charged and will those charges reflect the true value of the use of the spectrum after 2021? What assurances will there be that the spectrum-trading model envisaged will actually work, when it has not worked so far?

What the Government propose is complicated, but some want to unpick it. BT, for example, may take legal action via judicial review. What view have the Government taken on its chances of success? The Government need to articulate very clearly why their proposals are necessary to deliver next-generation mobile and why the provisions in Clause 38 are required to implement them.