AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE FOR TE PUKE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 17, 8 November 1950, Page 3

AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE FOR TE PUKE

Te Puke is expected to have an automatic telephone exchange by 1952. Recently, Mr A. W. Findlay (district overseer for the lines staff of the Post and Telegraph Department) stationed at Tauranga, with technical departmental officers, surveyed the routes for the preparation of underground cable laying. Mr Findlay stated that within almost a few days, a special machine would be in the district which was capable of digging the trenches and laying over 2000 feet of cable per day. Asked what advantage accrued from underground cable, Mr Findlay said that any number .of lines could be connected so that, in the first place, more subscribers could be connected. Secondly, the partyline system could largely be done away with if subscribers desired individual lines. Both Mr Findlay and the Postmaster (Mr L. E. Fieldes) have stated that, from information given to thefn, it would seem that an automatic exchange system would be operating in Te Puke by 1952. Plans had been out for about four years fo.r a new Te Puke post office building, but the automatic exchange Would require a separate building in any case. A further interesting point on Which finality has not been reached is a proposal to instal an automatic exchange in some outlying district in ’the Te Puke area. It appears that this will come about but its locality is at present in doubt. This'will mean that telephonic communication between Te Puke and thai area will be by automatic toll. Thinking in terms of the added cost to users of the telephone, our representative enquired whether the facilities would be sufficiently improved to compensate for this added cost. The reply was that the service would be what is termed an “on demand” and the connection would be instantaneous. The country district exchange Would require no attendants as it Would be fully automatic and would receive attention from a mechanic once a week who would merely have to call in and oil certain parts of the machine. Underground cable is now being laid in most country areas, and Te Puke and Mt. Maunganui will be attended to in the very near future. Mt. Maunganui has no exchange at present, but Mr Findlay understood that a temporary manual exchange was to be installed, followed by the automatic system.