Inter-City ’Phone Link

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31113, 16 July 1966, Page 16

Inter-City ’Phone Link

In Christchurch last night, the PostmasterGeneral (Mr Scott) spoke simultaneously to the Minister of Customs (Mr Shelton) in Wellington and Mr B. P. MacDonell, M.P., of Dunedin, over an intercity telephone link.

Mr Scott was officially opening the southern section of the new broadband microwave telephone system which now spans New Zealand from Whangarei to Dunedin. The system already provides 650 circuits between Wellington and Dunedin and within weeks will be 960. This is only a fraction of the system’s capabilities. By adding more equipment at the transmission and receiving stations, the link could provide up to 3000 toll circuits as well as several channels of telex, telegraph, and photo-telegraph facilities. The micro-wave link is also capable of taking national radio “hook'-ups” and will be used for that purpose for the first time today to broadcast the test match in Dunedin. 8.8. C. News

Mr Scott said that coupled with the COMPAC cable, the microwave link could bring 8.8. C. news bulletins from London into almost every home in New Zealand as clearly as the natural voice.

The equipment in the microwave link was at the time of purchase the very latest of its type and considered adequate to meet New Zealand’s requirements for many years ahead. The equipment was duplicated to the last rivet so that any technical fault could be rectified without any interference to transmission. At all points in the system where loss of electric power could cause interruption, special diesel generators were ready to charge 50-volt batteries which could give power to the link. Strong Towers Towers which beam the signals from point to point between Wellington and Dunedin are built to withstand gales in excess of 150 miles an hour. The chances of their being knocked out by the weather are considered by Post Office engineers as being remote. The cheapest and best route for the link was determined after an exhaustive investigation of all routes. It has been designed and built to allow the addition of some equipment for television relays, thereby providing a fully-integrated telecommunications system. The mayors of the three cities spoke to one another. The Mayor of Christchurch (Mr G. Manning) warned the Mayor of Dunedin (Mr R. J. Calvert) and the Mayor of Wellington (Sir Francis Kitts)

that with seven Welshmen in the team the Lions were liable to repeat the performance of the Newport club against the 1963-64 All Blacks. Mr Calvert advised that good weather had been forecast for the match. The three Mayors agreed that the new link would be a boon to the business community by cutting out delays in toll calls.

Representatives of a wide cross-section of the community attended functions in the three cities to mark the official opening of the link. They were later invited to speak to their counterparts in each city.

The photograph shows a typical receiving and transmitting station in the inter-city microwave link.