§ 85. Mr. Dayasked the Postmaster-General whether his attention has been called to the delay experienced by subscribers in obtaining replies from telephone exchanges in country areas after 10 p.m.; and whether his Department is taking any further steps for the purpose of remedying this defect?
§ Major TryonI have had no recent evidence of delay in answering by telephone exchanges in country areas after 10 p.m. Manual exchanges are being replaced as rapidly as possible by automatic exchanges and this should improve the service, both day and night, in country areas.
§ Mr. DayCan the right hon. and gallant Gentleman say whether there is a regular testing system for manual exchanges after 10 p.m.?
§ Major TryonPerhaps the hon. Member would put that question down.
§ Mr, MacquistenCould the Postmaster-General not make arrangements in these 1952 country areas so that each operator would have a telephone at the head of his bed?
§ 90. Sir Gilford Foxasked the Postmaster-General what progress has been made with the provision of telephone call office facilities in rural areas under the Jubilee concession of 1935?
§ Major TryonUnder the Jubilee Concession announced by my predecessor on 29th April, 1935, the Post Office undertook to provide public call office facilities in every village on the mainland of Great Britain and in Northern Ireland in which there was a Post Office. More than 1,000 such kiosks have been erected and the scheme has now been virtually completed. In addition, existing call offices inside rural Post Offices are being replaced by outside kiosks wherever practicable, so that in due course every mainland village will have the benefit of continuous public telephone service. Under this latter scheme over 3,000 kiosks were erected in the past year.