LITTLE RELIEF

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 200, 24 August 1945, Page 6

LITTLE RELIEF

PHONE CONNECTIONS

SWITCH GEAR PROBLEM

Parliamentary Reporter. WELLINGTON, this day. While the supply of material for telephone connections had been slightly eased, there was still little immediate prospect of connecting any large number of the waiting applicants, said the acting-Post-master-General, Mr. Jones, to-day. He said that not only was there insufficient material for carrying out ~ line construction work, but many months of restoration work following the recent severe snow storm, in the Canterbury district would take up the time of many linesmen. Priority would be given to those whose business was high in order of essentiality, but even so, in certain towns, not even these could be given service.

A problem more serious, however, was the lack of switching equipment in automatic exchanges, particularly in the larger towns. At Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton and Palmerston North the automatic equipment was loaded almost to its maximum capacity, and no worthwhile relief could be afforded until new equipment was manufactured abroad and installed.

"With a view to attaining a more equitable rationing of nef connections," added the Minister, "it has been decided that, until conditions return to normal, a residential subscriber, on moving away from an address, will not be permitted to transfer his telephone connection to the incoming tenant, or to anyone else. Hitherto, a new tenant who has been able to take over the connection of the outgoing tenant gained an unfair advantage over many other would-be telephone subscribers, some with very high degrees of priority. Switching units that become available as a result of butgoing tenants relinquishing their connections will be allocated to the next most deserving applicant on the waiting list."

The Minister said it was not proposed to impose any restrictions on the transfer of a business telephone from one businessman to another, nor would there be any new restriction in regard to a person who, moving to a new address in the same city, desired to take his telephone connection with him.