§ Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what study he has made of the evidence supplied to him of the arrangements made by the BBC to transmit inaudible signals; if he will examine the privacy, security and other implications of such a departure; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitelawMy Department was aware that the Central Electricity Generating Board had asked the BBC to provide transmission facilities for the broadcast of radio control signals over BBC transmissions which, by switching on and off specially adapted electricity supply meters in consumers' premises, would facilitate, with the agreement of the consumer the control of loads used for186W off-peak electricity. This could lead to economies in the production of electricity.
Trials are being carried out to test the the technical viability of the proposal and the BBC is using its long wave transmitter at Droitwich. The signals used do not affect broadcast reception and are below the audible range. There is no reason to suppose that question of privacy and security arise in this context, but if an operational system were proposed, all the implications would be fully studied.