Communications Bill - Clause 69 - Permitted subject-matter of access-related conditions
Communications Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Andrew Robathan (Blaby, Conservative)
I shall not come back to clause 69; I shall stay with it. As two members of the Committee have said, the clause is vital for the future development of the telecommunications market and, indeed, to the Bill. It is important that we discuss the clause and tease a few things out of the Minister about the future.
Local loop unbundling has, so far as I can work out, been a success only in the eyes of BT, which told me that people complain unjustly about it. However, take-up has not been anything like what was expected for reasons which the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Allan) identified. There are many reasons, but to suggest that there is not a large market for access to the network through broadband is ludicrous. The market is massive. I come to the subject as a shadow Department of Trade and Industry Minister. Small and medium businesses throughout the country are desperate to get access to the network through broadband. That is why the matter is so important.
I am sorry that the Minister for E-Commerce and Competitiveness is not here, because he is a bit of an expert on the subject. He was about to illuminate us on many things before he was cut off in his prime this morning.