Clause 61 - Obligations to be secured by universal service conditions
Communications Bill
12:45 pm
Mr John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford, Conservative)
It is a huge improvement on what BT used to charge. The price has come down, but I agree that it is still a significant sum. I suspect that at present many people feel that they are not likely to use the service enough. It is possible to get it slightly cheaper. To some extent, the market is now providing cheaper services, but I do not think that there is anything below about £20 a month, which is still a significant sum for many.
It is worth comparing how we are getting on with what is happening in other countries. In some respects
we are making good progress. In terms of availability, we are middle ranking in the international league tables; about 65 per cent. of the population has cable or ADSL technology available to them should they choose to take it up. That means that we are ahead of France but behind Germany. There is room for improvement, but it is not an absolute disgrace. In our use of the internet, too, we are relatively well placed.
The real concern, however, is in the matter of take-up. At the end of the day, our competitiveness will depend on how many people have that technology and use it. A table of the top 20 countries would show that South Korea was far ahead, but we are lagging behind Canada, the United States, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Spain—and by quite a long way. Most people would acknowledge that, in terms of take-up, we are now at the bottom of the international league table.