Automatic Exchange At Loburn In Use Today

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31027, 5 April 1966, Page 15

Automatic Exchange At Loburn In Use Today

The new Loburn automatic telephone exchange will be used from 10 a.m. today by 149 subscribers in the Loburn, White Rock and Birch Hill districts. Most of the subscribers were on heavily-loaded party lines. The new exchange will allow many individual services. No line will have more than five subscribers. People in the area were previously served by the Rangiora manual exchange. The Post Office regional engineer (Mr H. W. Wilkinson) said yesterday it was planned to replace the Rangiora exchange with an automatic one late next year. If equipment arrived from overseas sooner than expected, the change could be earlier in the year, Mr Wilkinson said.

The supervising engineer (Mr L. J. Hewitt) has asked Loburn subscribers to refrain as much as possible from using telephones between 9.45 a.m. and 10.15 a.m., to enable technicians to make final adjustments to the automatic exchange. “At present all subscribers have two telephones, one manual and one automatic,” he said. ‘‘ln the case of the party-line subscribers a switch is also installed alongside the telephone. These subscribers are asked to operate the switches at 10 am. If they have to leave home before that time they should operate the switch before leaving, otherwise the other parties on the line will not be able to use their telephones."

Equipment for the new exchange. plus the cost of installation, is valued at about £7500. The cost of the whole project, which included the replacement of overhead wires with cables, and the provis-

ion of new telephones, was slightly more than £30,000. The" prefabricated wooden building was assembled, and the equipment installed in it. in Christchurch. It was taken to its site in the Loburn township about a month ago, on a heavy transporter. The exchange is of the latest “unit” type, similar to that installed in many other country areas, and can be easily extended by adding further units.

The Rangiora exchange will act as its “Parent,” and will be the switching point for toll calls. There will be no charge for calls between Loburn. Sefton, Woodend, Ohoka and Rangiora. A further step in the provision of wide-area free calling for the Rangiora group of exchanges will coincide with the switch to automation. This will mean the abolition of distance charges for Rangiora subscribers situated between the Rangiora base rate area, which extends about two miles from the Rangiora Post Office, and the inear boundaries of the four i outer exchanges. Until now subscribers in this area paid a loading on their annual rental, which depended on their distance from the Rangiora base rate area. From today, however, they will pay a fixed loading, irrespective of their distance from Rangiora. Their rentals will thus conform to those for Ohoka, Sefton and Woodend. The fixed loadings for residential subscribers who are on individual or up to four party lines will be £1 a year.