Mr Richard Allan (Sheffield, Hallam, Liberal Democrat)

The clause relates to the power of Ofcom to set conditions on the providers of network services. I believe that it would be helpful to consider at this point the speed of access to database networks, which I assume comes within that area, so that the Minister can perhaps think about it. We may well return to the issue later when we talk about the detailed nature of the conditions.

Obviously, a debate is taking place on broadband, and there is a question about the universality of a broadband service, but even before we reach those issues, there are questions about access simply to be able to transmit data over a telephone network. We have a universal service obligation in terms of being able to transmit voice over a telephone network, but there are still plenty of parts of the country where one cannot get data access with any reasonable speed. My understanding is that the current universal service obligation is a very low speed of access.

I assume that Ofcom's power under the clause will be a tool that it can use to try to increase that minimum speed, perhaps not to broadband levels, but to reasonable levels, such as those we currently know as ISDN. Over time, the floor speed, if I may express it like that, will potentially increase.

I see that Ofcom can impose a condition under a universal service condition and an access-related condition. If Ofcom sought to raise the standards of the network, both the access-related condition and the universal service condition would seem to apply. However, in the clause, they appear to be mutually exclusive; they are separate forms of condition.

I raise that point not necessarily because I expect a detailed response from the Minister now, but because we are talking about giving Ofcom powers and I thought that it would be helpful to say that it will increasingly be an issue for Ofcom whether it can raise the level at which one can access data networks generally by using the powers that it gains under the clause.

Mr Roger Gale (North Thanet, Conservative)

Order. The Minister may respond briefly if he wishes to do so. There will be an opportunity to discuss the issue further under clause 61.

Mr Stephen Timms (Minister of State (e-Commerce & Competitiveness), Department of Trade and Industry; East Ham, Labour)

Thank you, Mr. Gale. The hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam makes a fair point. As time goes on, we would expect the threshold to be raised. The clause sets out four specific conditions, and as you said, Mr. Gale, we will be able to consider each condition carefully under later clauses.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 41 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 42 to 44 ordered to stand part of the Bill.