In a decision that promises to embarrass the state-owned monopoly telephone operators on the continent, Trade & Industry Secretary Peter Lilley yesterday announced to the House of Commons that in response to the Duopoly Review, telecommunications in the UK would become a free-for-all, with UK and foreign companies free to bid for licences to offer service in all three areas – local, long-distance and international. Cable television companies and others will be free to offer local phone service, but the bar on British Telecommunications Plc on carrying cable television on its lines will remain in force. Companies like AT&T Co and US Sprint Communications Inc, which have expressed an interest in entering the UK market for telephone service in the UK are likely to apply for licences, and the British Railways Board, which already has its BR Telecommunications Ltd subsidiary in place in anticipation of the decision, will be able to offer long-distance service over its existing network. It is likely that the privatised utilities – electricity, gas, water – will also be interested in getting involved in the market.
