wnp@relay.eu.net (wolf paul) (11/15/90)
The following is taken Vienna's "DER STANDARD", 1990-11-15: Great Britain's government wants to open the country's telecommunications market to additional vendors. Minister of Trade Peter Lilley recently said in London that the market which is currently dominated by British Telecommunications Plc. and Mercury Communications Ltd. should be made accessible to other competitors. His proposals are contained in a discussion paper which has been presented to Parliament. The government and the regulatory agency for telecommunications (Oftel) want to encourage cable television companies to also supply telephone and other services, said Lilley. On the other hand, British Telecom should be prohibited for the next ten years from entering the entertainment sector. These proposals underscore the efforts of the Thatcher government to push ahead with the liberalization of the telecommunications market which started with the privatization of British Telecom in 1984. Wolf N. Paul, UNIX SysAdmin, IIASA, A 2361 Laxenburg, Austria, Europe PHONE: +43-2236-71521-465 FAX: +43-2236-71313 UUCP: uunet!iiasa!wnp INTERNET: wnp%iiasa@relay.eu.net BITNET: tuvie!iiasa!wnp@awiuni01.BITNET