§ MR. R. BIDDULPH MARTINasked the Postmaster General, When he will be able to state the conclusion at which he may have arrived as to granting a licence to the London and Globe Telephone Company, authorising them to work in London and its suburban districts; and, whether he has any intention of purchasing the business of one particular Company at a large price, and thereby creating a monopoly of telephone service, by which the public will be deprived of the benefit of a healthy competition in the development of a scientific invention which may still be considered to be in its infancy?
§ MR. FAWCETTI have received applications, not only from the London and Globe Telephone Company, but from other Telephone Companies for licences to carry on business in various towns, where a telephone exchange is already established, either by a private Company or by the Post Office. The important questions involved in these applications have for some time engaged my attention. I am not yet in a position to announce my decision; but I can assure my hon. Friend that there shall be no unnecessary delay in arriving at a conclusion, and in making it known. With regard to the latter part of his Question, I may state that the Government have no intention of purchasing the business of any Telephone Company.