§ 62. Captain W. SHAWasked the Postmaster-General if he will consider the installing of telephone facilities in those villages of the Westbury division which are situate two miles and over from any telegraph or railway amenities?
§ Viscount WOLMERI am prepared to provide public telephone call office facilities in any rural district where a demand exists for such service. Regard must, however, be paid to financial results, and, in eases where the call office is likely to be unremunerative, it is necessary that the local authority or persons interested should furnish a guarantee to defray the difference between the receipts and the annual expenses involved in providing the service. As regard exchange facilities, in any district remote from an existing exchange a new exchange is opened provided that eight subscribers can be obtained at rentals of £2 per quarter for circuits within a mile and a half of the exchange, and that the cost of connecting the new exchange to the general trunk system is not unduly high. If my hon. and gallant Friend will furnish the names of the villages in the Westbury division which he has in mind, I win have specific inquiries made.
§ Captain SHAWWhile thanking the Noble Lord for his answer, may I ask if 1667 he realises how much behind other countries, and especially America, we are in regard to postal facilities in country districts?