§ 88. Mr. PILCHERasked the Postmaster-General the capital cost of the four beam transmission stations erected, respectively, for the Australian, Canadian, Indian, and South African services?
§ Viscount WOLMERThe total capital cost of the four beam stations was approximately £242,200.
§ 89. Mr. PILCHERasked the Postmaster-General the number of messages sent or received by the Post Office beam services during the first year of beam operation in the case of Australia, Canada, India, and South Africa, respectively; and, in each case, the number of messages sent or received, respectively, during the first week of operation, during the week ending 2nd April, 1928, and during the latest week for which a return is available?
§ Viscount WOLMERAs the answer to this question involves a number of figures, I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the answer:
§ Traffic statistics for the period named are not readily available in the form of numbers of messages; but the following statistics of paid words will, I hope, serve the purpose. On the Australian service during the first 52 weeks of its operation 7,306,000 words were handled; on the Canadian service 4,591,000; on the Indian service 10,078,000; and on the South African service 8,375,000. During the first complete week of operation of each service, the number of paid words handled was 53,000, 59,000, 115,000 and 88,000 respectively. During the week ended the 1st April, 1928, the respective totals were 179,000, 133,000, 212,000 and 184,000. During the week ended the 11th November, 1928, the respective totals were 181,000, 113,000, 253,000 and 200,000.