TOLL TELEPHONE CALLS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 131, 4 June 1937, Page 8

TOLL TELEPHONE CALLS

(To the Editor.)'

Sir,— During the past few years great scientific advances have been made in telephonic communication throughout the world, and New Zealand, sparsely populated as it is, has not been backward in its adoption of new methods. The Telephone Department is ever willing to explain to prospective subscribers all the advantages of possessing this grand instrument of communication. Can it then, be explained by the purveyors'of this "electric service" why communication .with Auckland was unobtainable within H hours both on Monday night and this night after .10 p.m.? Would' it not be ,wise for the Department to institute a "time between call and answer" rate of payment at all hours for the sake of true efficiency and service? —I am;' etc., 00,000. May, 25, 1937. :

The Post and Telegraph Department explains that at 10 p.m. the cost of toll calls over distances exceeding 75 miles is reduced to. a quarter of the normal day rate. It is the experience of the Department that many subscribers, in order to obtain the benefit of the cheap rates, book their calls for completion at 10 p.m. with the result that congestion occurs on some circuits at that hour and calls in some instances are delayed. The toll circuits between Wellington and Auckland are adequate to permit of the prompt disposal. of full-rate traffic, and it will be appreciated (the Department states) that the provision of additional circuits at a very high cost; merely to. cope , with the rush: of cheap-rate' traffic offering at 10 p.m. would be an uneconomic proposition. The 75 per cent.' reduction in toll charges which operates between 10 p.m. and 6. a.m. represents a very considerable concession to toll users, and the provision of an "immediate" service between, the larger cities at such a cheap rate can hardly be expected. It is pointed out, < however, that the urgent service is always available to those persons who wish their calls connected immediately, after 10 p.m. the charge for this type of call being actually 50 per cent, less than the ordinary day rate. Adequate provision is therefore made for those callers who are. unable to wait until calls at the "quarter".rate can be satisfied in the normal course.