10. Mr. Charles Ian Orr-Ewingasked the Postmaster-General how soon he will be able to install apparatus to ensure for shared telephone lines both secrecy and individual accounting.
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsSecrecy could only be provided at considerable additional cost. Individual accounting is now provided for about one half of the 230,000 1331 sharing subscribers, and this facility will be extended as quickly as our resources permit.
Mr. Orr-EwingThis secrecy has been developed in other countries and I would like to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether we could learn from experience, particularly in America, because it might be much cheaper in the long run than laying the very expensive underground cables otherwise needed for additional telephones?
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsNo, Sir, it is a question of using resources to the best advantage and in these circumstances we are using as much of our resources as we can to provide a shared service for as many as we can, rather than diverting some of these resources to ensure secrecy.