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Sunrise industries

should n o t b e considered p a r t
VANS, A S f a r as most British
of basic conveyance. The GovTelecom subscribers a r e conernment argues, however, that
cerned,, are the yellow vehicles
that would remove any obligawhich arrive whenever the teletion on BT and Mercury to offer
phone goes wrong. But to the
MDNs a s universal services
telecommunications a n d c o m available nationwide and could
puter industries; t h e t e r m
slow their rate of development.
"Vans" is shorthand for an exSuch a n obligation, according
citing growth business and —
to Whitehall, would offset any
increasingly — for a classic
benefit BT might gain from the
case of Whitehall,muddle.
L.
freedom to cross-subsidise.
In indüstry usage, the word
stands for value-added network
A more practical explanation
services; a new breed o f venfor t h e Government's position
By Guy de Jonquieres
•;:
tures which exploit the commeris t h a t t o prohibit B T f r o m
cial possibilities opened u p by to limit national competition i n
The result of its deliberations cross-subsidising M D N s would
the widening overlap between "basic conveyance" — the phy- was published last June a s a require a n amendment t o i t s
computing and communications sical transmission o f communi- consultation document. T h i s licence, which BT would almost
technologies.
cations — to B T and Mercury recognised t h a t earlier efforts certainly oppose.
Since the British government until July 1989. T h e aim is to to draw boundaries by defining
Mercury is unhappy, too. I t
began liberalising telecommuni- allow BT time to reorganise and Vans had proved unsatisfactory. object's t h a t the Government's
cations in 1981, i t has licensed adjust i t s tariffs and t o give Instead, the Government sought proposals undermine much o f
about 600 Vans — more than in Mercury a chance t o build a to lay down dividing lines b y the original purpose o f t h e
all the rest of Europe. T h e s e business.
defining b a s i c conveyance. " duopoly " p r o t e c t i o n f r o m
include "mailbox" systems f o r
which i t w a s supposed t o
The intention i s t h a t a f t e r
sending messages between per- 1989 new competitors should be MDNs would be classed as basic benefit.
sonal computers, electronic re- free both t o set up their own conveyance and would be perIn many ways, bringing forservation and credit card veri- networks a n d t o b u y circuits mitted, so long as they carried ward the 1989 deadline appears
fication services a n d videotex from B T and Mercury and re- only c m uter d a t a a n d n o t to offer the simplest solution.
'nary eTZPItrffririessages.
information networks such a s sell capacity to other users.
But the Department of Trade The D T I itself concedes that its
BT's Prestel.
Vans
can
already
involve
some
and Industry's attempts t o proposals f o r regulating Vans
Novel as today's Vans a r e ,
and MDNs are based on largely
though, many i n t h e industry re-sale o f B T a n d M e r c u r y clarify the rules seem only to artificial distinctions f o r which
see them as only primitive fore- capacity. B u t official policy to have muddied t h e issue s t i l l the o n l y j u s t i f i c a t i o n i s
runners o f a coming "informa- date h a s favoured such n e t - further.
As w e l l a s disputing t h e political.
tion economy," whose central works, provided they offer some
However, t h e Government's
nervous system w i l l be a pul- extra service as computerised in- Department's suggested definisating network o f electronic formation processing or storage tion of basic conveyance—a con- commitment t o the 1989 deadand
are
not
simply
a
backdoor
line
i s enshrined n o t only i n
voluted sentence 81 words long
arteries linking offices, factories
and homes. I n a nutshell, just way of breaching the BT/Mer- —many respondents have com- the B T and Mercury licences,
the sort of glamorous "sunrise" cury national duopoly over basic plained t h a t t h e proopsed but also i n the prospectus f o r
licensing arrangements would BT's share Rotation last year.
industry which the Thatcher ad- conveyance.
This fine distinction has been not meet their needs and are Reneging o n i t so soon could
ministration wants to promote.
But the dream is i n danger put to the test, however, by the so complex a s t o b e almost lead t o t h e embarrassing
spectacle o f Ministers b e i n g
of turning into a n administra- emergence from the communica- unworkable. .
But t h e m o s t widespread sued by BT shareholders.
tive nightmare for the Govern- tions jungle o f a shadowy new
Hence t h e more likely outment. I t s efforts to speed the creature known as a managed objection is that i f MDNs are
development o f Vans have be- data network (MDN). T h e first classed a s basic conveyance. come is that the D T I will seek
•
such
venture,
code-named
Jove,
there would be nothing to pre- to coax a reluctant industry
come caught u p i n a n extraordinarily complex regulatory was jointly proposed by BT and vent BT from gaining an unfair into accepting i t s proposals.
thicket and drawn sharp criti- International Business Machines advantage b y cross-subsidising Almost nobody regards them as
cism from the very industries (IBM) last year.
from i t s p u b l i c n e t w o r k satisfactory, a n d t h e y p o s e
Jove w a s conceived a s a revenues any MDN i t launches. serious problems o f implemenit is trying to encourage.
specialised
service
which
would
In part, its dilemma reflects
Ironically one of the angriest tation.
All t h e D T I ministers resthe difficulty of devising a sen- knit together the data proces- objectors i s I B M , B T ' s erstsible framework to regulate ser- sing installations o f l a r g e while partner in Jove, which is ponsible f o r formulating t h e
organisations
s
u
c
h
a
s
banks,
vices w h i c h d e f y p r e c i s e
already operating its own MDN original policy have, of course.
definition. B u t a growing num- insurance a n d manufacturing on a pilot basis f o r the insur- now moved on, leaving Whitecompanies
i
n
t
o
a
n
extensive
ber o f critics contend that the
ance industry. Other companies hall officials to pick up the bait.
But t h e number o f senior
Government is also paying the integrated network. A s such, it planning t o start similar serbegged
the
awkward
question
of
price f o r a n o v e r -hasty a n d
vices include I C L , the British officials versed i n t h e o f t e n
poorly thought out approach to whether it was a Vans or a basic computer company, a n d Elec- arcane intricacies o f telecomthe r e f o r m o f telecommuni- conveyance system—or both.
tronic D a t a Systems, p a r t o f ' munications p o l i c y i s b e i n g
In the event, the Government General Motors. ICL has won a rapidly depleted. H a l f -a-dozen
cations, which led to the setting
of too many contradictory ob- ducked the issue. I t vetoed the contract t o provide a network of the most able have already
•BT/IBM joint proposal on com- linking retail stores' computers left f o r jobs i n t h e private
jectives.
In particular, t h e Vans i m - :petition grounds b u t said i t directly to those of their trade sector, and by the end o f this
broglio calls i n t o question a would be prepared to consider suppliers so that new stocks can year all of those involved in the
BT privatisation will have been
central t e n e t o f t h e Govern- 'other similar projects i n t h e be ordered electronically.
IBM contends t h a t M D N s replaced.
ment's policy: i t s commitment future,

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