Telephone Equipment (Hansard, 30 June 1965)

§ 15. Mr. Walters
asked the Postmaster-General if he is satisfied with the development progress of British telephone equipment, and its availability to the public; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Benn
British telephone equipment is constantly being improved and developed to take account of technological advance. It is being made available to the public as rapidly as possible as part of the big expansion of the British telephone system now under way. To meet rising demand and use, a new capital investment programme is now in course of preparation.

§ Mr. Walters
Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied with the progress of the development of new types of equipment, such as those which have been available in the United States for some time, for instance, rapid dial systems and call directors, which are useful not only for efficiency at home but for exports? Moreover, will he give some indication of when deliveries of loud speaker telephones, which are currently running a long time behind schedule, will be resumed and returned to normality?

§ Mr. Benn
I will inquire about loud speaker telephones and write to the hon. Gentleman, because I cannot tell him offhand what the supply position is. As he may know, I especially arranged for an exhibition of subscriber apparatus in the House of Commons at Easter so that 617 hon. Members would have the opportunity to see what was available, and it included not only trimphone, which has come into service, but also repertory diallers of the most modern kind and various other things, including press-button telephones, which are in the process of advanced development.

§ Sir J. Rodgers
While recognising the importance of pressing on with new apparatus, will the right hon. Gentleman say when he is likely to be able to remove the backlog of orders for ordinary telephones, a backlog now running into thousands?

§ Mr. Benn
As the hon. Gentleman no doubt knows, an accelerated capital investment programme was announced at the time of the 1963 White Paper, but was entirely outstripped by demand. The position when I came into office was that the forecast was that the waiting list was likely to increase rather than diminish as had been hoped. This is the problem—that the Post Office is installing more telephones than ever before, while at the same time demand is outstripping supply, even with an expanded programme. That is why a new capital investment programme is in course of preparation.

§ Mr. A. Royle
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I have been waiting for about six months for an ordinary 15 ft. lead to go on a loudspeaker telephone and that my example is typical of the many long waits of subscribers for new equipment? When will the right hon. Gentleman arrange for equipment to be delivered promptly and swiftly when ordered by subscribers?

§ Mr. Benn
I do not recall the hon. Gentleman's having brought his own case to my attention, but I will look into it to see what can be done.