§ 76. Mr. Alldrittasked the Postmaster-General what was the waiting list for telephones in each of the years 1951–52 to 1964–65.
§ Mr. BennThe composition of the waiting list is constantly changing and it is not possible to quote figures relating to entire years. The numbers quoted below, therefore, represent the position on the 31st March of each year.
Year Applications on the Waiting List 1951 418,000 1952 389,000 1953 324,000 1954 265,000 1955 252,000 1956 232,000 1957 160,000 1958 91,000 1959 60,000 1960 49,000 1961 55,000 1962 48,000 1963 44,000 1964 44,000 1965 50,000
§ 82. Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Postmaster-General what it was estimated that the telephone waiting list would have risen to in each of the next five years on the basis of the capital programme actually authorised and planned in October 1964.
§ Mr. BennIt is estimated that if the capital programme current in October, 1964, had remained unchanged, and demand for service was in line with present forecasts, and if priority was given to improving the service to existing customers,
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TELEPHONES PER 100 POPULATION At 1st January U.K. U.S.A. Canada France West Germany Japan Sweden 1952 … … 11.4 29.3 22.1 5.9 5.6 2.4 25.2 1953 … … 11.7 30.3 22.9 6.2 6.1 2.6 26.4 1954 … … 12.15 31.27 24.01 6.45 6.61 2.96 27.73 1955 … … 12.74 32.21 25.05 6.88 6.92 3.18 28.99 1956 … … 13.46 33.73 26.28 7.18 7.59 3.48 30.44 1957 … … 14.04 35.45 27.56 7.57 8.26 3.84 31.50 1958 … … 14.25 36.82 28.64 7.92 8.75 4.22 32.60 1959 … … 14.53 37.97 29.64 8.29 9.30 4.69 34.00 1960 … … 15.03 39.51 30.85 9.06 9.98 5.21 35.30 1961 … … 15.69 40.79 31.82 9.53 10.71 5.88 36.81 1962 … … 16.25 41.78 32.66 10.07 11.50 6.73 38.51 1963 … … 16.72 43.05 33.73 10.52 12.37 7.72 40.28 1964 … … 17.41 44.26 34.89 11.09 13.12 11.06 42.25 Note: The U.K. figures are as at 31st March. the waiting list would probably have risen as follows:
1964–65 50,000 1965–66 55,000 1966–67 200,000 1967–68 200,000 1968–69 300,000