HALF A MILLION TELEPHONES

Hokitika Guardian, 15 July 1929, Page 2

HALF A MILLION TELEPHONES

AUSTRALIA SIXTH ON THE LIST. WORLD’S RECORD LONGDISTANCE'LINE. CANBERRA, June 28. Teleplione communication is now possible between the capital cities in the * eastern part of Australia, and plans, are in hand for bridging the gap between Adelaide and Perth, a circuit distance of 1676 miles. What that will make possible was disclosed hy . the Postmaster-General, Mi' Gibson, in the course of an interview, when he told the writer that satisfactory commercial conversations may then be carried on between Cairns, in Queensland, and Geraldton, in Western Australia, a distance of.no less than 4762 miles. “This will be a world’s record,” he said, “for long distance land-line telephony.” Further, it is proposed to link Tasmania with fhe mainland by means of a wireless telephone service, and within the next year or two it will be possible for nearly every telephone subscriber in Australia to communicate wi.n every other subscriber. Since Mr . Gibson assumed office as Postmaster-General there has been a marvellous increase in the telephone business of the Commonwealth. Com-, pared with other countries Australia heads the list for the increase during the last five years, as the following figures show: —Australia, 64 per cent.; Great Britain 56 per cent.; New Zealand, 41 per cent.; Germany, 36 per cent.; Switzerland, 34 per cent.; Canada, 33 per cent.j united States, 29 per cent.

“In providing for future requirements,” the Minister said, “full advantage has been taken of scientific research and development throughout the world, and the results of our efforts to secure greater efficiency are quite evident. The development has, in fact, been phenomenal. Fifty years ago there were no telephones in Australia; to-day there are over 500,000. That is to say, every twelfth person in the Commonwealth, has a telephone. On a per capita basis we are sixth on the list of nations showing the greatest number of telephones on a per capita basis. In the last seven years the number of connexions has been doubled — a- record that very few administrations of any importance can equal. In 1922 there were under 3000 telephone exchanges in Australia, but the number has now grown to 6000. “The telephone is no longer regarded as a luxury, but as a necessity, and practically half of the 500,000 that are in use throughout the Commonwealth are on the homes of the people. It has been my endeavour to see that the

country keeps paae with the city in regard to this service ,and rural telephone exchanges are going to play a more and more important part as time i goes on.

“Sometimes one hears criticsm ol the telephone service, but it is usually based on insufficient evidence. Every great department is liable to criticism at times, of course, but when the whole of the facts are considered’the wonder is that such a' service as this should escape with so little of it. “In conclusion, I would like to point out that the low charges in Australia have been largely responsible for the great development that has taken place. Telephone subscribers in Australia enjoy terms that are not available iii 7 any .other part of the : world. If we were to make charges similar to those of other leading telephone countries the service would, show a big profit instead of the loss that is being made at present. If our tariff were on the same scale as that obtaining in the United States, for instance, the service would show a profit of no less a sum than £2,000,000 per annum. However, it is the Government’s policy to place the telephone within the reach of all. It would be easy to put up the rates, but we prefer to put up with a loss in this great public service.”