Clause 89 - Conditions about apparatus supply
Communications Bill
10:00 am
Mr John Greenway (Ryedale, Conservative)
You are right to say that clause 89 is narrow, Mr. Atkinson, but it is important and the Conservatives profoundly disagree with it. We discussed earlier Ofcom's regulation of the apparatus supply market, which is not required by the directive. It is unnecessary for Ofcom to regulate that market at all because the market is already competitive. We are not happy with the clause for those two reasons.
The Minister made a robust defence in the sense that there are still a number of people with apparatus that is hard wired. His point seemed to be that the whole purpose of the Government's approach was to protect those consumers, and if that was his argument, that is fine. The Government's intention may be to give Ofcom powers in respect of any supplier who has a significant market power position in the hard-wire apparatus market, but the clause goes beyond that. Amendments Nos. 103 and 104 endeavour to limit the powers to the hard-wire market only. That is why amendment No. 103 adds the words ''in that market'' to line 24—''that market'' is the hard-wire market.
Amendment No. 104 makes it clear that any conditions imposed by Ofcom should relate only to the hard-wire apparatus market part of a supplier's business. The clause should not be a Trojan horse that allows Ofcom to regulate the rest of the supplier's business. Allowing Ofcom to do that would be wholly disproportionate and, in any event, we have already concluded that the directive does not require it. It would be contrary to the entire philosophy of the directives taken as a package and to the principles of good regulation.
The Conservatives would prefer that the clause was not in the Bill, but I hope that the Minister is prepared
to say that he will think about whether the wording should be amended to make it absolutely clear that the provision is simply about ensuring proper regulation of the apparatus supply market as it relates only to the hard-wire market.