Communications report done

Press, 24 May 1977, Page 11

Communications report done

PA Wellington The Government hoped to clarify its views this year on the introduction of the coordinating and advisory body recommended by the Communications Commission’s report on telecommunications, said the Minister of Broadcasting (Mr Templeton). The Cabinet committee on communications was already looking into the institutional requirements of setting up a new body or revising the present system, said the Minister. The Post Office would likely be required to play a more important role than it played now, he said. Mr Templeton said that the envisaged body would not require new Parliamentary legislation but would be introduced under present laws and using present financial authorities. Asked whether he was concerned that the planned body would add another level to the bureaucracy, Mr Templeton said that this was always a matter of concern, but it was most important that the Government had an overview of telecommunications so that it. could effectively

plan the choice of new technologies. As well as providing the basis for more rational decisions in the rapidly changing world of telecommunications the report was vital in meeting the public’s right to know about developments, he said. More effective coordination was needed in the development of telecommunications in New Zealand according to the report. The recommendation is the focal point of the 300-page report submitted by the commission of four, comprising Mr G. Searle (chairman), a former Director-General of the Post Office; Mr E. W. de Lisle, a former Post Office engineer-in-chief; Mr L. R. Sceats, formerly a DirectorGeneral of the NZBC; and Professor H. A. Whale, of the Auckland University Radio Research Centre. The report was commissioned almost a year ago by Mr Templeton to provide a basis for the examination of the problems and options facing New Zealand in the planning of telecommunications in fields such as public telephones, broadcasting (television and radio), mobile radio, data transmission, and telex.