Mr. Macdonaldasked the Postmaster-General whether, in the case of subscribers whose business is of a confidential nature, and who use their private telephone to a great extent for business or professional use, he will make exceptions to the recent decision of his Department that telephones for new subscribers or telephones for existing subscribers removing to another address can only be installed if an agreement to share the line is signed.
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsThe rule was introduced over 3½years ago with the special object of enabling the Post Office to utilize184W its limited resources to give service to the maximum number of people. As a result, there are over 150,000 subscribers now on the telephone who would otherwise have still been on the waiting list. I am satisfied that, if the rule is to be effective, exceptions must be kept to an absolute minimum; and this view is fully supported by the Post Office Advisory Council.