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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I wonder how the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Maxton, fits in with this clause at all because his doubts in relation, for example, to the area in which the noble Lord, Lord Steel, lives, imply that Ofcom should in some cases have the responsibility of promoting inefficient investment, if efficient investment means that some profit is produced for those who make the investment. "Efficient" may mean something different, and I am not sure exactly what meaning the word has in this subsection. "Efficient" could mean that it carries out the purpose in which Ofcom is interested. In some cases, it would not necessarily need to be a productive investment from the point of view of the person making it, but productive from the point of view of the person receiving the benefit of it. If Ofcom was to take up the problem of the neglected areas of coverage for media phones, the clause would need to require it to promote investment which might not be productive for the investor in certain cases.