§ 59 and 60. Captain FRASERasked the Postmaster-General (1) when the wireless beam station for communication with South Africa will be handed over to the Post Office; and if he anticipates that during the first few months after his Department takes it over there will be enough traffic to keep it occupied for 100 per cent. of its working time;
(2) if His Majesty's Government will negotiate with His Majesty's South African Government and the companies concerned an arrangement whereby the South African beam station may be used for experiments with the object of placing British Broadcasting Corporation programmes at the disposal of South African listeners?
§ Viscount WOLMERI will answer these questions together. The beam stations for communication with South 2178 Africa are expected to be ready for the official tests in the course of the next few weeks. If the tests are successful, the stations will be taken over by the Post Office and a wireless telegraph service with South Africa will be opened. It is impossible at this stage to say whether the stations will be fully occupied with telegraph traffic, but it seems doubtful whether a directional station is likely to be as suitable for purposes of Imperial broadcasts as a station capable of transmitting in all directions.