British Telecommunications Plc is thought to be in the lead in the bidding for the contract to televise the Mother of Parliaments on a trial six-month basis – but may have to bring in an independent television production company as a partner, in order to clinch the contract. According to the Daily Telegraph, the Commons Select Committee is due to choose this week, with the other main contender being a joint BBC-Independent Television News bid. British Telecom is so keen to get into television that it is offering to meet the costs itself, and return any profits from delivering the feed to TV stations, to Parliament. Its proposals are also believed to include a satellite delivered Parliamentary Channel that could be picked up by cable television companies, and a video Hansard. It is also committing to set aside landlines for the experiment to deliver the feed to regional TV companies, and to deliver the feed unedited at a reasonable price, charging its customers a deposit that would be forfeit if the feed were misused – no sneaky little clips going into comedy programmes.
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