§ 3. Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Postmaster-General what progress has been made with the construction of the Commonwealth round-the-world coaxial telephone cable, in view of the report received last summer from the Commonwealth Telecommunications Board that such a cable had become technically possible and of the decision of the Commonwealth Trade and Economic Conference, held at Montreal last September.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonIn approving the construction of a Commonwealth round-the-world telephone cable system, the Montreal Conference recognised that Commonwealth Governments would need to make further detailed studies of the plan before entering into building commitments. The United Kingdom attaches great importance to the achievement of this imaginative project, and will be glad to play a full part in its development. The first stage will be the completion in 1961 of a new telephone cable between28W Canada and the United Kingdom; the contract for the first section of this cable was let by Cable and Wireless Ltd. last week.