Clause 85 - Conditions about network access in
Communications Bill
8:55 am
Mr John Greenway (Ryedale, Conservative)
On Tuesday afternoon, during the stand part debate on clause 78, I raised the issue of proposals under which the European Commission could overrule Ofcom's assessment of what might be significant market power on the grounds, as the Minister rightly explained, that that power was necessary to deal with the supervision of international markets, rather than domestic markets within member states. I have a suspicion that clause 85 is another part of the fabric of the supervisory arrangements in respect of international markets and the interface between what Ofcom does and the view that the Commission might take.
I would like the Minister to confirm one or two points of meaning. Under clause 85, Ofcom may decide in ''exceptional circumstances'' on significant market power conditions in respect of network access. I have a suspicion that conditions additional to those in clauses 83 and 84 might need to be imposed on the provider, but those must be submitted to the Commission for approval, and Ofcom can apply those conditions only when they have been approved. Essentially, I have two questions for the Minister. Is the intention behind the requirement on Ofcom to seek the Commission's approval before imposing certain conditions to pre-empt and thus avoid the type of cases that we were concerned about under clause 78 arising, and so prevent friction between our regulator and the Commission?
The second request is for some information on what is meant by ''exceptional circumstances''. Presumably, the Minister, his Department and the shadow Ofcom have in mind certain cases or situations that might require use of the provision. If so, it would be helpful to the Committee and the wider telecommunications industry if the Minister would enlighten us about what might constitute exceptional circumstances. Then, with your agreement, Mr. Atkinson, the Committee might react to what the Minister says.