THE TELEPHONE OUTLOOK

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 63, 8 December 1920, Page 7

THE TELEPHONE OUTLOOK

SHORTAGE OF MATERIAL. The Post and Telegraph Department is endeavouring to catch up with the demand for the installation of telephones but is finding difficulty in doing so on nccounti of tho shortage of material In an interview- with the Auckland "Heia!ir the Postmaster-General (Hon. ,T G wales) said the Department was faced with the erection of 1456 miles of pole line, and 10,068 miles of open aerial telephone wire. This did not includo"miuiv « f Si» cab ? e w . n Ting anything; from a to 600 pairs of wires in each cable. In addition, 565 miles of main lines were in urgent need of repair. Tho increased cost of material affected tho Department very substantially, apart from any difficulty experienced in obtaining delivery. A careful system of graphs was keprf of market sales and costs, the object being to buy to tho best advantage. At the present moment the sthres manager of the. Public Works Department was in Australia, getting into touch with the materials necessary to supply the requirements of the Public Works Department and the Past and Telegraph Department. Telegraph poles might "be taken as an instance of the need for material. On June 6 last ilie requirements for the Dominion were 83,000. and tho number available in the country 10,000 There, were 84.000 on order. With regard to tho demand and the present supply of telephones, the following table shows the number in operitifon per 100 of (he population in tho Dominion and the four centres on March 31, 1919:— Dominion (5.5 Auckland fijt Wellington <|[(j Ohristchureh ?]\ Dunedin 7,7 The figures for the principal countries of the world were as follow, the year on which the count was tnlton' being given in parentheses in some cases:— • United Kingdom ' 2.0 United Stales 13'^ Sweden , g',4 Norway (1917) 4.4 Germany (1914) .„ 2.2 France " i'n Italy (1917) ". 0 .3 The following tabic shows the new connections made and the number on tho wailing lists for the Dominion for the ' last two months for which iJic returns were available:— , New „ , , connections. Waiting, September 78.1 (1170 October 665 GO7O Tho waiting list for the Dominion had been reduced by 100 in the courso of the two months. The numbers on tho waiting lists for the four provincial districts at October 31 were:— Auckland 2255 Wellington 2298 Canterbury 576 Otago 011 Total 6070 1 ' Three or four hundred connections would bo made early in the New Year, and it might be possible to-mnke fur- . tlher arrangements to allow of still greater facilities for those desirous of becoming subscribers in Auckland.