THE TELEPHONE SYSTEM

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 182, 4 May 1925, Page 10

THE TELEPHONE SYSTEM

GROWTH IN NEW ZEALAND TELEPHONIC CABLE FOR COOK STRAIT The demand for new telephone connections continues to increase (says the annual report of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce), and despite the fact that new records in the number of new connections made each year are being established, there are still approximately 4000 applicants awaiting connections. There are distributed generally over the 340 exchanges, in the Dominion; and, except in the case of some of the large centres, where delay in providing exchange plant has occuried, the large majority of applications are of recent date. Since the termination of the war the expansion of the elephone exchange system throughout the Dominion has been phenomenal; and-if the present rate of development is maintained it is not unlikely that, in the near future, the number of telephones for each hundred of population will be. greater in New Zealand than in any other country in the world, except the United States of America and Canada The present telephone charges, which have been in operation since October, 1923, have had the effect of largely increasing the number of telephone connections in suburban areas and country districts; and there is no doubt that much greater development will take place in these areas before the maximum point of absorption is reached. This development will greatly enhance the value of the telephone to the business community. An effect of the present rating system is that it promotes the. amalgamation of small exchanges which are of no appreciable distance apart. As instances of this in the Wellington district, the Upper Hutt and Heretaunga exchanges were amalgamated last year. On December 31, 1924, the number of telephone stations in the Dominica was approximately 110,000, an increase of about 8000 on the figures for tlie previous year. The extension of the automatic telephone exchange system has been advanced a further stage by the recent conversion to automatic working of the Auckland city and suburban telephone exchanges. Rapid progress is being made in the conversion of tlie Wellington system from partial to full automatic; and if no unforeseen circumstances arise, the final cut-over at Wellington may be expected during the latter part of this year. When this conversion is complete, approximately 30,000 subscribers’ stations in the Dominion will be operated automatically. Full automatic systems are being installed also at Dunedin and Christchurch; and at no distant date the installation of similar systems at Hawera, Dannevirke, and Stratford will be commenced. “As a natural sequence of the phenomenal extension of the telephone exchange system there is a demand for a greater number of toll lines betv :en tlie various cities and towns, and a more extended range of working. Where practicable, this demand is being met by a rearrangement of circuits, and, in other cases, iby the erection of additional wires. The erection during the year of additional telephone wires between Wellington and Palmerston North and between Palmerston North and Napier has made practicable a complete rearrangement of the telephone circuits serving these places, with the result that the outlets for telephone traffic between the YY’ellington, Manawatu, and Hawke’s Bay districts have been considerably increased and improved. Wellington is now able to communicate continuously with Napier, and, in addition, is able to communicate with YVairoa and Taupo and other exchanges in Northern Hawke’s Bay The most important extension of the telephone toll system now in view is tlie laying of a submarine cable across Cook Strait for the purpose of provid. ing greater facilities for telephonic communication between the North and South Islands. The cable, which is being obtained from England, is so designed x as to provide three telephone and four telegraph channels. A supply of the latest type of thermonic valves . also is being obtained; and when these are used in conjunction with the new cable, telephone communication between any two parts of the Dominion will generally be practicable. It is expected that the new submarine telephone cable will rach the Dominion about September next, and that it will be laid before the end of the year.