§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether his Department has considered any proposals to establish a Government of military cellnet type radio system in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. ButcherNo.
§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement concerning the future use of the 430–440 MHz radio band; and if he will (a) identify the primary users of this band and (b) place in the Library any representations that his Department has made to the primary user concerning the interests of other users.
§ Mr. ButcherThe band 430–440 MHz is allocated on a primary basis to the fixed, mobile and radiolocation services for governmental use. An examination of the governmental use of the band is being undertaken and my Department will be consulted if there is likely to be any impact on the civil services which also operate in the band.
§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what review his Department is instituting into the uses of the 870–890 and 915–925 radio bands; and what use his Department intends to make of these bands in future.
§ Mr. ButcherThe Merriman report on the radio spectrum (Cmnd. 9000) recommended regular reviews of spectrum usage and of the allocations for defence purposes. The Government have accepted these recommendations and the future use of the bands 870–890 MHz and 915–925 MHz (which are used mainly for governmental services) will be considered in the light of the conclusions of the first stage of these reviews, covering 470 MHz—3.4 GHz.