CABLE RATES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 April 1938, Page 7

CABLE RATES

SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTIONS MADE UNIFORM EMPiRE CHARGE. OUTCOME OF CONFERENCE IN LONDON. Substantial reductions in the cable, rates to the United Kingdom and certain parts of the Empire are announced in a statement issued by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, in Wellington last night. The basis of the new rates, which will become operative on Monday, April 25, is a uniform charge of Is 3d a' word to Empire points in all cases in which this will result in a reduction.

In the case of the United Kingdom, to which part of the Empire approximately 35 per cent, of the cable traffic originating in New Zealand is addressed, the reductions may be expressed as under: — Full-rate reduced from Is 8d to Is 3d a word; code-rate reduced from Is to lOd a word; deferredrate reduced from lOd to 7Jd a word; daily-letter rate reduced from 13s lid to 10s 5d for 25 words. Typical examples of the reductions in the full rates to other parts of the Empire are as follows: — Present New full-rate full-rate Destination per word per word Canada Is 6d Is 3d South Africa 2s. Od Is 3d India 2s lOd Is 3d Straits Settlement 2s lOd Is 3d For code telegrams, deferred messages and daily-letter telegrams, the reduced rates will be two-thirds, one-half, and one-third, respectively, of the new full rate of Is 3d. “Based on the present volume of traffic originating in the Dominion.” the Prime Minister said, “the reduced rates will result in a saving to the New Zealand public of the sum of £23,707 per annum; while the total benefit of the reductions in telegraph rates to users of the cable services throughout the Empire is estimated to amount to nearly half a million pounds per annum. “This huge saving to the public has been made possible by concessions on the part of the United Kingdom and Dominion Governments, but the main burden of the reductions has fallen upon the approved British Company, Cable and Wireless, Limited. Obviously, a saving of such magnitude will have a very helpful influence in the achievement of the object of the new uniform rate of Is 3d a word to Empire. points, namely, the concentration of all cable communication within the Empire on the services provided by Cable and Wireless, Limited, and the fostering as much as possible of trade within the Empire.” The last reduction in cable rates was made in 1931, when the rate to the United Kingdom was reduced from Is lid to Is 8d a word. The present reduction is the outcome of the conference that took place in London in May last under the auspices of the Imperial Conference. TRAFFIC STIMULUS POSSIBILITY OF FURTHER REDUCTIONS. ANNOUNCEMENT IN BRITAIN. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Copyright. (Recd This Day, 10.0 a.m.) LONDON, April 8. It is officially announced that new Empire-wide wireless and cable rates, also applicable to inter-Dominion and inter-colonial traffic, will be introduced on April 25. The reductions are the result of all-round, mutual sacrifices. A White Paper estimates the benefit of the proposed reductions to the public at Home and overseas at nearly half a million sterling annually. There will be further reductions should the traffic stimulus reach expectations.