§ 11. Mr. Nabarroasked the Assistant Postmaster-General whether he will state the respective numbers of business premises and private persons awaiting telephone installations at 1st January, 1953; and what reduction in this waiting list he hopes to achieve in the calendar year 1953.
§ Mr. Gammans137,048 business applicants and 296,164 private persons were waiting for telephones on 1st January, 1953 During 1952 the waiting list has fallen by over 50,000. It would be unsafe to predict the position at the end of 1953 if for no other reason than that the number of new applications cannot be estimated with any accuracy.