§ 46. Mr. Leadbitterasked the Postmaster-General what is the average waiting time from the point of application in the Northern Region for a telephone to be installed; how many telephone units are under production and how many stocked; and what is the rate of installation a year in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Stonehouse90 per cent. of the orders for telephones in the Northern Region are met on demand: the average434W waiting time of the remainder—1,975 people—is 5½ months.
We have placed orders with manufacturers for 845,000 telephone instruments this year: in addition, we shall get 250,000 from our own repair factories. Current Post Office stocks are about 826,000. We shall use about 2,000,000 telephone instruments this year. The waiting list is not caused by shortage of telephone instruments, but by shortage of exchange equipment, and, in some areas, cables.