§ Mr. Henry Clarkasked the Postmaster-General when the Post Office plans to link the subscriber trunk dialling system telephone system in Northern Ireland with the subscriber trunk dialling systems in the North-East, North-West, and Midlands and so assist business between Northern Ireland and these areas.
§ Mr. StonehouseThe subscriber trunk dialling system in Northern Ireland is already linked to the North-East, North-West, and Midlands. However, because of technical limitations with existing telephone exchange equipment, the 80 per546W cent. of subscribers in Northern Ireland with the subscriber trunk dialling facility can only dial between 60 per cent. and 80 per cent. of their calls to Great Britain, depending on the exchange to which they are connected. A new high-speed network of trunk lines and switching centres is being provided to overcome the technical limitations. The main telephone centres in Northern Ireland will be among the first to be connected to the new network, which will be completed by 1975, and which will enable any subscriber in the United Kingdom to dial direct to any other subscriber.