Clause 80 - Review of services market identifications and determinations
Communications Bill
6:30 pm
Mr John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No.83, in
clause 80, page 76, line 21, leave out from 'must' to 'carry' and insert—
'at intervals not exceeding two years from the commencement of the previous analysis of the market concerned, or if, as a result of a change in market conditions, a communications provider notifies them in writing that it requires them to carry out such a review,'.
This amendment is small, but quite important none the less. Clause 80 deals with reviewing the services market in which a determination has been made that a particular operator has significant market power. Whether that market power exists will, clearly, depend heavily on the particular market that has been identified and studied.
Under the terms of the Bill, the review of that services market should take place at ''such intervals as'' Ofcom considers ''appropriate''. That seems to us to give Ofcom too much power, especially since, in this field, it is likely that technology will develop very quickly, as has been said many times during our debates. It is conceivable that a market might change very rapidly. Therefore, it would be helpful to include in the Bill, at the very least, a requirement that Ofcom should re-examine the market
£''at intervals not exceeding two years from the commencement of the previous analysis of the market concerned''.
Moreover, where an industry has changed very quickly and the particular player that Ofcom has decided has significant market power can see that the market has changed and that matters are now extremely different from when the review was originally conducted, it is only fair that that player can go to Ofcom and request, in writing, a further review of the services market. That would be the effect of the amendment. It would set down a specific maximum time that could elapse before a review had to be undertaken again, and give any company affected by that the ability to request a review in an even shorter period.