§ Mr. Russellasked the Assistant Postmaster-General why it is not possible to dial a subscriber on the Byron Exchange from a call-box on the Mill Hill Exchange, whereas it is possible to dial subscribers on Greenwich, Forest Hill, Gipsy Hill, and Streatham Exchanges from a Mill Hill call-box; and the approximate distance and the cost of a call from a Mill Hill call-box to each of these other five exchanges.
§ Mr. GammansFor technical reasons, only three penny calls can at present be dialled from call offices; call office calls from Mill Hill to Byron cost 4d. and to Greenwich, Forest Hill, Gipsy Hill and Streatham, 3d.
Usually 3d. is the charge for calls up to five miles from an exchange, and 4d. for calls between five and 7½ miles. But London subscribers pay higher telephone rentals than other subscribers, and in compensation the five-mile circle around Oxford Circus is ignored in reckoning the chargeable distance for calls. Greenwich, Forest Hill, Gipsy Hill and Streatham are roughly 14 to 15 miles from Mill Hill 234W but are all within 1¾ miles of the circumference of the five-mile circle. Mill Hill is less than 3¼ miles from the circumference and accordingly the distance charged for is taken as not more than five miles. Byron is 5½ miles chargeable distance from Mill Hill and a 4d. charge is therefore appropriate.