§ 43. Captain MURRAYasked the Postmaster-General whether he is in a position to make any statement as to the locality for the new wireless station south of Aberdeen?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELThe precise locality has not yet been settled.
§ Captain MURRAYIf I repeat the question before the Recess, will my right hon. Friend be able to give me the information?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELI am not quite sure if I shall be able to do so, but, if not, I will write to the hon. Member.
52 Captain FABERasked the Postmaster-General (1) specifically what parts of the British Empire will be barred from the benefits of unrestricted competition in wireless telegraphy by the possibility of their conflicting with the interests of the Imperial stations; (2) whether the monopoly which he proposes to create in connection with wireless telegraphy is to be temporary or permanent; and, if the former, what is the period of time which his advisers consider must elapse before the State service can be expected to support the effect of competition; and (3) whether the creation of a monopoly for the State in wireless telegraphy needs the sanction of Parliament; and whether it will in any way be embodied in the contract now being concluded with the Marconi Company, or whether it is a matter solely for the Postmaster-General of the day, and is capable of termination or revision at his own edict on the counsel of his advisers?
57 Mr. PIKE PEASEasked the Postmaster-General (1) on whose advice he is acting in refusing to issue licences for stations which will, in the hands of private companies, enable competition to be made with the State-owned service; and whether the arguments on which this advice is based are financial or strategical; (2) why there should be a monopoly in respect to wireless telegraphy when there is none in respect to the cables; and whether the fact of the failure of the Pacific Cable Company, which is a Government-owned concern, successfully 2208 to compete with private enterprise has been a factor in inducing him to arrive at this decision; and (3) how he defines competition with State-owned wireless enterprise; and whether, as the stations under Government control are on the route to the Mid and Far East, all rival wireless systems will be barred from operating east of Suez?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELThe Government are of opinion that the stations of the Imperial chain now prcposed to be established should be State-owned, and not in the hands of private companies, and this conclusion is in harmony with the recommendations of the Imperial Conference of 1911, and of the Select Committee of this House on the Marconi Contract, as stated in their Special Report of January, 1913. The erection of such stations would not necessarily preclude the grant of licences to private companies to carry on a competing business along the same routes, and there is certainly nothing in the proposed compact with the Marconi Company which imposes any restriction on the grant of such licences or has, indeed, any bearing of any kind on this question. The matter is one of policy which will be open for review at any time. But the very fact that the stations of the Imperial chain will be owned by the Governments concerned and will be conducted by State servants in the public interest and for the public profit would necessarily have an important bearing on the course taken in this regard. The risk of mutual interference, if several stations using high power are erected in proximity to each other has also to be borne in mind. The Government have not received any applications for licences for long range stations along the route of the Imperial chain, except from the Marconi Company, in 1910, and that application was refused. It is, of course, very doubtful whether any private company would wish, at all events, in the near future, to invest capital in order to establish a service in competition with the Imperial stations. The question whether the grant of a licence in any specified territory, if it were made, would or would not involve competition with those stations is one that can only be decided with regard to the circumstances of the particular case. I have already stated that suitable applications for licences to conduct a Transatlantic traffic would not be refused.
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELNo, the hon. Member is not to understand anything of the kind. There will be no monopoly. The State will own its own stations, and the State will be able at any time in the future, if it wishes, to licence private companies to compete with itself. That is a matter which the Postmaster-General of the day 'will decide on the applications which come before him.
Mr. WILLIAM REDMONDMight I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether it is not the case that these stations will not only be owned, but also controlled and managed in every respect by the State and the State alone.
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELYes, Sir, absolutely.