There are 20 UK cable television franchise areas with determinations allowing them to offer voice telephony services at present, but the number is set to explode because of forthcoming changes in the licensing procedure. Currently, cable companies have to apply to the Office of Telecommunications for an individual determination for each franchise area, but the procedure is being streamlined to allow the companies to obtain modifications to their existing television licences in a move seemingly designed to provide rubber stamp approval. It is not known how many cable companies will take advantage of the new applications process since the information is treated as commercially confidential, but there is certainly great potential – to date, more 130 cable television franchises have been awarded, covering more than 1.25m homes. Just how easy the new process will be remains to be seen, but Oftel appears to be pulling out all the stops to simplify it for the television operators. Mid Downs Communications Ltd – which has the franchise for Crawley, Hawley and Gatwick – is so confident of success that it has already ordered a DX200 digital switch from the Nokia Group in preparation for the new procedure. It hopes to offer its service towards the end of the year, and an Oftel spokesman has said that efforts are being made to install the new mechanism so that the service is launched on schedule. However, there is still some way to go before it can be introduced. According to Oftel, some of the finer points have to be thrashed out, and the change must be advertised so that any objections can be met. Obviously, British Telecommunications Plc is one of the most interested parties, but it is keping mum on the subject; a spokeswoman would only say that we will be making our comments to Oftel at the appropriate time. the results of a survey of telephone customers across four if its 16 UK franchise regions, showing that 96% of its customers rate its service as excellent, compared with 48% for BT. The poll of more than 800 customers also found that 60% felt the cable service was better than expected, while 38% reported the same of line quality. The survey was carried out in March by Continental Research.
