Subscriber Trunk Dialling

HC Deb 22 January 1963 vol 670 cc14-5

15. Mr. Lipton

asked the Postmaster General what additional revenue has accrued from local calls on subscriber trunk dialling exchanges as a result of the time limit on such calls.

Mr. Bevins

None, Sir.

Mr. Lipton

Why does the right hon. Gentleman persist in disguising the fact that with timed local calls on S.T.D. exchanges subscribers must inevitably pay more for their calls? If the right hon. Gentleman is charging 2d. for a three-minute call and the subscriber makes a four-minute call, he has to pay 4d., which is more than he pays on a non-S.T.D. exchange.

Mr. Bevins

I hate to contradict the hon. Gentleman, but the fact of the matter is that the average cost of a local call before S.T.D. was 2.85d., whereas with S.T.D. it is 2.80d.