§ Mr. Lunnasked the Postmaster-General on what date he intends to reintroduce the evening is. telephone charge which operated before September last year; and whether or not the same regulations will be applied to all subscribers as at that time?
§ Captain WaterhouseMy right hon. and gallant Friend has fixed 12th February as the date for the reintroduction of the cheap night trunk rates which were in force before the war. The cheap rates will be available to all subscribers from 7 o'clock each night. I hope that the restoration of these rates will prove to be of material assistance to men and women serving with the Forces at home and to many who have been evacuated to distant parts of the country. It seems probable that many of the calls in these cases will be made from public call offices; such calls are difficult to handle and, as a means of helping to avoid serious congestion at 7 o'clock, it is proposed to advance the time at which cheap calls will come into operation in the case of calls originated from call offices to 6.30 p.m.
On the other hand, there is still continued heavy pressure of urgent defence traffic throughout the day time, and my right hon. and gallant Friend regrets that it is impracticable under these conditions to restore the reduced day rates which were in force before the war.