§ Captain GARRO-JONESasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is taking any steps towards establishing a broadcasting service receivable on sets of moderate cost in such places as West Africa and East and Central African Colonies, where thousands of British citizens are in remote and lonely stations?
§ Mr. PENNYI have been asked to answer this question. The difficulty in providing such a service as the hon. and gallant Gentleman desires lies not in the transmission but in the reception. The British Broadcasting Corporation have been conducting almost daily transmissions from their short-wave station 5 SW ever since the 12th of December last, and these programmes have been heard from time to time throughout Africa and elsewhere. I understand from the corporation, however, that prolonged experiments under varying conditions are likely to be required before suitable receiving machinery can be evolved. His Majesty's Government can obviously give little help in this matter, but the Colonial Governments are co-operating to the best of their ability by forwarding reports on local reception.