§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the hand-on facility on cellular radio will enable the location of each individual mobile subscriber to be identified.
§ Mr. Butcher[pursuant to the reply, 3 May 1984, c. 204]: The concept of location identification is complex and depends on the operating conditions at a given time —for example whether the subscriber unit is switched on, is registered with one or both of the system operators and whether a call has been established. Subject to these operating conditions it could be possible to determine the general location of a subscriber unit by identifying the cell in which it is situated. How this is achieved and whether more precise location is possible will depend on how the cellular radio operators develop their individual systems.