§ Mr. Butcherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has reached any conclusions following the responses to the discussion document on open channel radio; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitelawThe responses to the consultation document fell into two categories. On the one hand there were a large number of individuals who wanted citizens band radio at 27 MHz to be legalised. On the other hand, the electronics industry and institutions representing other interests such as broadcasting strongly advocated frequencies higher than 27 MHz. It is clear that all these alternatives, other than 928 MHz. would cause great interference to television and hi-fi equipment. I am, therefore, disposed to allocate frequencies to open channel radio in the neighbourhood of 930 MHz for this purpose and I am considering whether it would be possible to exempt the facility from licensing if certain conditions are met. This should give British manufacturers an attractive opportunity to develop new products having the potential of a wider market through international standardisation.
The responses to the consultation document showed that there are many people who advocate a system, such as 27 MHz, with a greater range than that which open channel on 930 MHz would provide. I remain concerned about the likely interference to other users if a service operating at a much lower frequency were introduced, but I intend to continue consultations to examine this question further.
I shall announce final decisions on all these matters as soon as I can.