TELEPHONE SERVICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 July 1920, Page 4

TELEPHONE SERVICE.

REPLY TO CRITICISM.

NEW CONNECTIONS HELP UP.

The complaint made by the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce that the present telephone service in New Plymouth is far from satisfactory was yesterday brought under the notice of the Superintendent (Mr. H. E. Fookes) by a Daily News reporter. Mr. Fookes said that from his experience the New Plymouth service compared quite as favorably with that in towns of' larger size. The general supervision and also tho attention given by the operators, he thought, could not be complained of. Mechanical defects arose, as was the case in every office. Tests were made once daily, but often the faults occurred afterwards. The superintendent advises subscribers who encounter an apparently faulty connection to communicate with the exchange and the matter will be remedied.

If complaints come from those awaiting the installation of telephones, Mr. Fookes says delay arises from causes not within the control of the Department, namely, a shortage of wire and insulators, particularly the latter. It is hardly possible to obtain even quotations for fresh supplies of wire, but the Department is fortunate in havfng a little available at New Plymouth, and have also a number of telephones. Nothing can be done, however, till a supply of insulators ■•■ is received, and it Is indefinite as to when the situation will be relieved. At present there are between sixty and seventy applications on hand for new connections to the New Plymouth exchange.