Clause 87 - Conditions about regulation of services etc. for end-users
Communications Bill
9:15 am
Mr Stephen Timms (Minister of State (e-Commerce & Competitiveness), Department of Trade and Industry; East Ham, Labour)
The clause deals with the possibility of significant market power conditions being set when Ofcom has determined that a person has dominance in the services market for the end-users of public electronic communications services. However, the clause provides an additional test, which is whether Ofcom has been unable to perform its duties under clause 4 in full because of the setting of access-related conditions under clauses 69 to 72 and significant market power network-related conditions under clauses 83 to 86.
The hon. Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford may find some reassurance in the fact that the test relates to the requirements on Ofcom in clause 4 to act in accordance with the six EC requirements. Those requirements are: promoting competition; aiding the development of the European internal market; promoting the interests of all citizens of the
European Union; not favouring particular forms of network, services or associated facilities or favouring the means of providing such things; encouragement of network access and service interoperability; and encouragement of compliance with standards of interoperability.
If it is Ofcom's view that it has not been able to carry out its duties to act in accordance with those six requirements because of other conditions, Ofcom may, under the terms of the clause, set conditions placing obligations on the provider. The provision is therefore not quite as wide as it might appear to be at first sight. It is constrained in the way that I have mentioned. I hope that that gives the hon. Gentleman some reassurance. The provider may also be obliged to have its cost account systems annually audited, and to publish an annual statement as to its compliance with those systems, if those have been obliged in accordance with subsection (6).
However, this is a rather different discussion from that which we had earlier about things that could be done only with the explicit approval of the European Commission. There is a requirement in subsection (7) to provide information to the European Commission, but that is a little different from needing permission from the Commission, which was the case under the earlier clause.