§ Mrs. Ewingasked the Postmaster-General if he will afford special facilities to old age pensioners in Scotland who cannot obtain good reception on Radio 2 619W and who cannot afford very high frequency.
§ Mr. Edward Short:I take it that the hon. Member has in mind the reception of the long wave (1500 metres) transmitter of Radio 2, formerly the Light Programme.
A large area of Scotland, as of the United Kingdom generally, has always depended for reception of Radio 2 on the long wave transmission, or where this was unsatisfactory on VHF. Because reception of the long wave in Edinburgh and Glasgow is particularly prone to electrical interference and because people living there may have difficulty in providing outdoor aerials, the B.B.C. have opened low power stations there on the intenational common medium wavelength. 202 metres. This will benefit all classes of listeners there.