§ Sir G. Willsasked the Postmaster-General what is his policy with regard to the compulsory sharing of private exclusive telephone lines when the line is one on which confidential, professional conversations are necessarily held, even though the line itself is not a business line.
§ Mr. BennWe try, whenever possible, to give people the type of service they want, but where plant is short we have to insist, firmly and impartially, that all new and removing residential subscribers 37W share their lines if called upon to do so in order to provide service for a new applicant. Many people use their home telephones for confidential or professional conversations and in deciding who should share it would be impossible to differentiate fairly between the many varying claims. If I am to meet the present heavy demand for telephones, I must retain for the time being the fullest use of shared service.