The two Scottish electricity providers, Scottish Power and Scottish Hydro-Electric, as reported briefly (CI No 1,904) are the latest to join the swelling number of applicants for a UK telecommunications operator licence. Both have filed proposals with the Department of Trade & Industry to provide telephony and data services using the cables installed for their electricity provision. Scottish Power is the electricity service provider for southern Scotland, while Scottish Hydro-Electric covers the north of the country. The move into telecommunications is part of a drive by the companies to become broader-based utility providers in line with the government’s plans to widen the scope of services offered by such former state-owned companies. While Scottish Hydro-Electric is giving nothing away about the services it hopes to provide, Scottish Power has said that its initial offering, if it is granted a licence, is to be a 2Mbps leased line service for business, and it hopes to be operational by early 1994. Later on it will target residential users for voice services. It has applied for both a national and an international licence, but unlike Sprint Corp, says that if it is granted a national licence only, it will press ahead anyway. Although neither company would confirm it, it seems very likely that the two electricity providers are talking to each other about a partnership. ScottishPower’s marketing manager for telecommunications, Peter Rooms, says that his company is in negotiations with several potential bedfellows, although he refused to be drawn on who they are, but Hydro-Electric would seem the most logical choice since an agreement would give the companies the chance to target their services at the whole of Scotland using their existing infrastructures. Scottish Power needs partners for two reasons, according to Rooms – to lower the costs of network expansion both within the UK and abroad, and to provide the local link into customers’ premises. The Scottish Power network presently covers 2,500 miles with over 60 exchanges, and it is currently being upgraded to fibre; at present it is composed of a mixture of fibre, copper and radio relay links. A fibre link will be constructed between Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as extensions both north and south of the current network. Whoever the company is talking to, it seems pretty certain, however, that it is keeping British Telecommunications Plc out of its plans. We’re going into business to take BT’s business according to Rooms. The company is undecided whether to spin off its telecommunications activities into a separate company, with Rooms commenting that there are advantages on both sides, and that the issue is being debated. But initially at least, the company feels that it will benefit from using the Scottish Power name. Scottish Power says that it is expecting to hear the Department of Trade & Industry’s decision towards the end of the year.
