§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the number of privately owned telephones by(a) region and (b) county; and if he will make a statement. [607]
§ Mr. Ian Taylor[holding answer 20 November 1995]: At end March 1994 there were approximately 20.94 million residential exchange lines nationwide. Overall data by region and county are not held. Telephone ownership has risen in the United Kingdom from 78 per cent. per household in 1984 to 91 per cent. today. I share the objective of the Director General of Telecommunications to increase that figure still further.
In rural areas, access will be helped by use of the radio spectrum that was released recently.