§ 45 and 46. Mr. Gowerasked the Postmaster-General (1) the average time a new applicant for a business telephone has to wait in England, Wales and Barry, respectively; and if he will make a statement;
(2) the average time a new applicant for a domestic telephone service has to wait in England, Wales and Barry, respectively; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonSeparate statistics are not kept for the time taken to meet business and residential applications, and with permission, therefore, I will answer these two Questions together.
When plant is available, the average time both in England and Wales is about twelve weeks. Business applications have priority and in their case the average time is slightly less. My information is that the average time in Barry is similar to that elsewhere. We connected 192 telephones last year and are dealing with 49 new applications at the moment.
§ Mr. GowerIn thanking my hon. Friend for that reply, may I ask whether it is not a fact that in large numbers of places, in South Wales at least, there is a shortage of equipment? Will my hon. Friend look into this aspect of the problem?
§ Mr. ThompsonYes, we have many areas where there is shortage of either line plant or exchange equipment. We are working hard to keep pace with the demand and to improve the service.