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.
65/324 page 367
![23 April 1996] [ Continued Lord Gregson contd.] have earmarked and reserved space for the European digital satellite delivery that equates, by my recent computations, to something like 3,500 megabits of capacity that has already been reserved within Europe. That equates to somewhere around 90 individual transponders. Each transponder could have the capability of delivering somewhere between eight and twelve individual channels. Those have all been reserved, primarily by the programme broadcasters such as BSkyB, such as Canal Plus, and Nethold. We ourselves do not currently hold anything more than a minimal position as for end use, although obviously through our shareholding in Eutelsat we do have an interest in the actual infrastructure. What is also not clear, because this market is extremely fluid is whether those people who have thus far declared their hand and made reservations on this particular capacity will end up using it themselves or selling it to somebody else. What is certainly notable is the degree to which although a substantial amount of capacity is actually being delivered over the next five years, as soon as it is created it is tending to be reserved or taken by various European parties. 534. Does the BBC have any reserves? (Mr Gavin) Not to my knowledge. Chairman 535. I am afraid we are, as usual, running out of time. Can I ask youa nitty gritty question. It has been represented to us that the uptake of Internet, which we agree does not really exist in a highly useful form anywhere in the world, nevertheless has been much promoted in the United States by the provision of access via free local telephone calls. Do you have a view on that? (Mr Butler) The only thing that I could possibly add is that though the telephone calls in some places in the United States, by no means everywhere, are free, the effect of being a service provider in the United States tends to time the usage. There has to be some control over the usage and there has been that effect whereas here it has been the other way around. (Dr Rudge) Can | also make the general point that there is no such thing as a free telephone call! The package in the United States that you pay for on a monthly basis includes unlimited use in a very small area which is defined as your local area, and that is built into the package charge. Lord Flowers 536. All you need to get on to Internet? (Dr Rudge) Yes. Baroness Hogg 537. There may be no marginal cost for accessing? (Mr Gavin) As John rightly points out the structure of the charges are therefore somewhat different within the United Kingdom. People have a local call charge but their actual charge for the utilisation of the Internet network structure itself is by and large a single quite competitive sum regardless of use whereas in the United States you will see that the majority of providers charge you for additional hours used so there is a different balance in charging. I think one of the key drivers in the United States of the Internet has been primarily the existence and penetration of significant numbers of personal computers within the home where penetration is approaching somewhere in the 40 to 50 per cent of US homes. I would point to that as probably the more significant enabler in terms of Internet traffic. Chairman 538. As against that only about a tenth of the people in the United Kingdom who have personal computers at home have modems which provide them with access to the Internet, say. What makes the difference in the States? That is a different figure presumably? (Mr Gavin) It is a different figure which is the penetration of modems within PCs and what has been a slower adoption of advanced features within PCs within the United Kingdom. Baroness Hogg 539. Does that suggest that the possession of a personal computer is not a strong drive for Internet use? (Mr Gavin) It is one important factor. (Dr Rudge) It is the first step. Lord Gregson 540. You have a growing field, cutting out the PC of course, at a much lower cost and I cannot see any reason why that should not develop fairly rapidly. I understand that the project costs are around about a dish washing machine equivalent and that makes it about a seventh of the cost. (Mr Gavin) Clearly there are many, many plans being mooted to introduce a far lower cost network terminal. 541. But that is without memory of course? (Mr Gavin) Yes, with less memory, with fewer features. 542. Is there a collective name for that? (Mr Gavin) Dumb terminal has been put forward, or the NC. Baroness Hogg] It does not sound the greatest marketing name! Lord Gregson 543. I heard it called the Alzheimer’s terminal. (Mr Gavin) Clearly there is a potential market. (Dr Rudge) There is an industry battle taking place from the PC suppliers on the one hand who believe the future lies with the PC and from server providers on the other who believe it would be much better to provide you with a cheap dumb terminal and have the information on a server. I imagine both of these will exist for a considerable period. Lord Gregson] I find it very significant that Bill Gates is now investing in dumb terminals.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32218631_0065.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
