HC Deb 25 March 1969 vol 780 cc271-2W
Mr. Kenneth Baker

asked the Postmaster-General whether he expects that the introduction of electronic exchanges will enable him to revise downwards the estimates of the amount of land needed for telephone exchanges.

Mr. Stonehouse

No. Any saving of space will be required to meet the rapid growth of our services and to cater for new services like data transmission.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

asked the Postmaster-General if he will give an estimate of how many electronic exchanges will be installed in the London telephone region over each of the next 10 years, together with the capacity of each.

Mr. Stonehouse

Small to medium sized electronic exchanges with capacity for about 2,000 connections are being ordered for the country as a whole at the rate of well over 100 a year. This system is not at present suitable for the requirements of large cities and we expect to install only about a dozen in the London Region.

Good progress is being made towards the introduction of a large electronic exchange, but the numbers to be installed over the next 10 years will depend on the outcome of studies that have not yet been completed.