§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will make a statement on the outcome of the second session of the Regional Administrative Broadcasting Conference.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonThe conference completed its second and final session on 22nd November and the agreement and plan were signed by the United Kingdom on that date.
The plan is due to come into effect on 23rd November 1978 and is assumed to last for at least 10 years.
Owing to the number of frequencies requested and the powers proposed, the plan arrived at does not decrease the level of interference on most of the frequencies now assigned, but has stabilised the level of interference so that further deterioration is less likely. The conference has confirmed the channel spacing of 9 kHz recommended by the first session in October last year; and this has made simpler co-ordination of frequencies between regions and made possible a greater degree of standardisation for receiver manufacture. In addition, three channels have been set aside as low power channels for the greater utilisation of local radio in Europe, Africa and Asia.
74WAs regards the United Kingdom, the use of the existing frequencies, with adjustments to conform to the new channel spacing, has been retained, though the overall interference situation has deteriorated to some extent. On the other hand, the use of an additional low frequency has been negotiated, which will make possible an improvement in low frequency coverage.
The conference has only just ended; we hope to make a more detailed statement when we have had a fuller report of the proceedings.