Telephone Finance.

Hokitika Guardian, 25 May 1922, Page 4

Telephone Finance.

REASONS I'OR it I?VISED TARIFF. VKI.UhOTON, Ai.-iy ‘2O. ft ii j>!iii:: ■ <;:! SiTilicts hcrume ftlll- - ; ih':l Iwo : iii! i.~ :i - o over ii report i hat it u . 'ii t:d. ii to. subslanliully iucieise tl . o'ti-” !' v.'iis reassuring to lind t !c.. i!,o mu.: usent half-yearly accounts wfill out wi ! h no sign of u l ining'.', However, ti e revisions are (inning, rod the dd-iv 'ms been due to ti e eaie take".! 10 can o'eiely re-model the* scale t.f cl arc s. The inereas's will come, but from what can be gather d. i!:e cost of telephoning to small users, especially those in the country, is not likely to be materially increased, if att;. i fail ■ at all is made. An invcsfig'. tion of i he systems of telephone charge; lot- In en made on behalf of the Post and Telegraph Department by one of its high olficers, and a good d.eai of the information lie collected reg.ed'ii.; sys.. ms in ot''er countries has I: en published. Taking this as a guid , it bicomes evident that the inevitable changes will go in the direction of nmking: a heavier charge on busy lelepboiji's. although the system of assessing payment :""-ording to the actual number of calls is not officially favoured.

'I lie telephone l>:i!iint-<* sheet, ns published in tin* Dominion's official stiltislics, is mil satisfaitiuy mmi the pro-lit-makiiig point of view. No doubt tlio tailway policy of regarding means of coniiniiitic*iit ion ns a national necessity not to be assessed in actual money returns will apply to lie; telephones of Now Zealand, bill, in these figures the l’ostmaer (ioneml linds justification lor making some important changes, the details of which are not vet available.

l‘"or many years the average return from t"!oplionos lias been less than three per cent on Ibe capital invested, but since the end of the war, matters have become worse. Successive wage bonuses totalling eventually a <>2 per cent increase on pie-war salaries, and great increases in cost of material, throw the cash statement on to the debit nde in ll lhl. T'ler - bad been an apparent dilt'orriico of L'2l of income ov >r ox-

pemlillire ill Hill), but in the following war a loss of L‘11).()27 appeared'. This can e down to a loss of I!I.lido in lfi 21. 'lie expcndiline includes d per c.-nt for deb mine ipier. rt, but nothing for dep via t ion. so that the loss is leilly larger than the figures indicate. It is lenmrkable how tie capital invest incut in ti lepham - and lines has grown, the total of L'2,o 11 .ft:i'l lieing more than double I 1 e invested capital at tho time tie war commenced. Subscribers have not increased in c.xactlv similar proportion, bit I - average cost of a telephone connection lias grown from C2S pre-war to over L'H! to-day. Tt. has rc-intly been announced that the Do■nitiion's telephones showed a good credit balance as a result of last year’s operations, but the financial position is •illieially regaided as warranting a 10vision of the charges.