Information society : agenda for action in the UK : evidence received after 31 March 1996 / Select Committee on Science and Technology.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. Science and Technology Committee.
- Date:
- 1996
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: Information society : agenda for action in the UK : evidence received after 31 March 1996 / Select Committee on Science and Technology. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![23 April 1996] Lord Flowers contd.] (Mr Gavin) I would have to provide specific information for you in answer to that. Obviously it is not without cost. We believe that we are providing a level of fire wall and security which fully meets the doctors’ concerns but if you would like a specific briefing on some of the costs I can do that. 530. I think it would be helpful. (Dr Rudge) Let me make a point about encryption because that is really where we are going. Encryption is now becoming available at very low cost, it is no longer the significant barrier that it might have been at one time. I do not exactly know what the numbers are but we will provide them if there is an element of that charge that is due to encryption. In fact, it is because encryption is provided through electronics technology, through silicon chips, that it can be provided today at a very much lower cost than in the past. The problem of encryption, certainly at the level which would satisfy a GP, is not a problem, remembering that these are Intranet and not Internet services. Lord Craig of Radley 531. The HealthNet programme, CampusWorld and so on are clearly very interesting developments in which you have taken a significant lead. Are there regulatory problems which affect what you are doing in those areas in which you would like to see changes made to those regulations? In other words, are there barriers there in the regulatory regime? (Mr Butler) 1 think perhaps I should emphasise that all of our efforts in service provision in these areas are paid for at full price. The sort of thing that Rupert Gavin runs pays full price to the BT network, the full retail price, less any discounts that may be applicable. Oftel are consulting at the moment on a specific service provision regime which would allow us to charge lower prices to service providers, always assuming that we charge the same price for the same type of thing to all equally, but would allow us to charge lower prices for service provision and that would encourage a greater provision of service over BT’s network. The difficulty with that is if those prices are too low then they discourage others from investing in alternative infrastructure and that is the dilemma that is currently being worked on within Oftel as to the extent to which that can be allowed. Although at the moment there are a number of very useful things going on that market could be further stimulated if there was greater pricing flexibility in the way that BT was allowed to charge itself and others for the provision of service. (Dr Rudge) Within BT, to model the emerging external market, or at least as we see it emerging, we have set up our multimedia Service Provision activities, as a separate business within the business. We refer to it as our internal market. Part-of the reason is anticipating these regulatory barriers to allow Rupert, for example, ‘to run his Service Provision business, buying from the network against the same rules that other service providers will be facing. [ Continued Chairman 532. In the remarkable convergence of technologies that we see there has been, for example, a recent news item about the general provision of digital satellite television to schools. How do you see that sort of development impinging upon your interest in schools? (Dr Rudge) Digital satellite is another means of delivery and as such it is a technology that we examine and consider. It isa little bit like the constant reference to cabling schools. It is not the cabling or the satellite delivery, it is actually the content that is rather important. We look at those two things quite separately. We are covering the ground thoroughly in terms of all the delivery mechanisms and we hope in due course that we will not be excluded from using specific examples. In terms of the content that may go over such links, that is a service provision business and we look at that separately. The constraint of a satellite delivery is, with digital satellite, while you can have up to 200 channels it is a one-way system. Therefore it has to be combined with something else to provide interactive working and it will always only be broadband in one direction. Having said that, it offers certain capabilities and certainly we are deeply engaged in examining its possibilities. Lord Gregson 533. I want to stray a little from the line of questioning and ask you this question. Could you tell us what the position is as regards digital satellites at this point in time? I know at least two of them have gone up, neither of them are operating yet. What is the booking on the satellite? Have you got a booking on the satellite? Has the BBC got a booking on the satellite? Could you just give us a rough idea what the position is? (Dr Rudge) The satellites themselves are only a part of the problem. You have the capability with a digital satellite to deliver the material in digital form. Most people are equipped with analogue television sets and therefore the box which has to receive and convert the signals is another element of the cost and that is something which normally the customer is faced with. The cost of providing these boxes becomes a key issue in trying to develop the market because the box itself is relatively expensive at the moment. Until it is available in very large volumes and the cost will then fall. If we are faced with a situation where via digital satellites it is one box and via cable it is another box, and BT 1s ultimately able to provide these services with yet another box, then the customer is extremely unlikely to be willing to buy. The first point I would make is the box and the standards that are inherent in the box area key factor in the costings and whether you can afford to subsidise the box. If you want to establish these services you have got to get out to millions of people in fairly short order to make it a viable service and to do that there is a specific box subsidy involved. (Mr Gavin) To specifically answer the point as to capacity, currently as you rightly point out there are only a couple of satellites with digital capability but if you look at the programme of launches over the next few years and then look at the companies that](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32218631_0064.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
