§ Mr. Masonasked the Postmaster-General the size of the waiting list for telephones in each telephone area in Great Britain and Northern Ireland at 31st March, 1960; what proportion this bore in each case to the total number of subscribers in each area; and by what date in each area respectively he expects to reach the position in which requests for connection of a telephone can be put in hand immediately they are received.
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§ Mr. BevinsI give the figures below.
For the United Kingdom as a whole the waiting list on the 31st March, 1960, was 49,093. This was just over 1 per cent. of the working lines.
I cannot at present say when it will be possible for connection of telephones to be put in hand immediately on request. This depends both on the available capital resources, and on public demand which at present is running at an exceptionally high level.