TELEPHONE SHORTAGE

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 33, 9 February 1920, Page 7

TELEPHONE SHORTAGE

THE POSITION EXPLAINED MORE MATERIAL NOW AVAILABLE The shortage of telephones in "New Zealand is discussed in a statement issued by the Postmaster-Gsneral (Hon.' J. G. Coates). ■ "The Departmental officers/ tha statement reads,. " have instructions to do whatever is possible temporarily" to ease the position which has resulted owing to the shortage of material until the suppliers are able to meet the Department's requirements. I have had frequent conferences with the Secretary of the Department (Mr. W. E. Morris) and the Chief Telegraph Engineer (Mr. E. A. Shrimpton), and I can assure those members of the public whose applications for telephones have been in some time that the delay in meeting them has been unavoidable. A lsrge branch of the Public Service like the Post and Telegraph Department, which uses thousands ot pounds' worth of material—much of it of a. kind that was required by the army and navy, which of course had first call upon the supplies during the war—could -not be expected to keep its supplies up to^ their proper working strength, and this I am sure is recognised by the public. I called upon the Chief Engineer for a report as to the present position of each of the four centres, and this throws some light on the growth of the telephone system\ in New Zealand, and, as a consequence, the demands made upon the poor supplies of ma,terial which the Department has been able to obtain." THE VARIOUS CENTRES.

The report referred to shows that the cabling question at Auckland is not acute, the trouble here being switchboard accommodation. This has been increased temporarily by 1300 lines, and it is-hoped that this will tide over the time until the Western Electric Automatic apparatus is brought into general use. Auckland district exchanges are not causing much anxiety, except in- some localities where a number of party lines-are being held up waiting for poles. The Hamilton exchange is not satisfactory from a switching point, of view, but this trouble is expected to disappear early in July next, when it is hoped.the automatic exchange will ba put into operation. Wellington City was somewhat relieved as far as switchboard accommodation is concerned whenihe Courtenay-place and Newtown automatic exchanges were brought into operation, but this will not carry us on until the maimexchange is installed. A building for the latter has yet tc be built, and while' this is being done additional equipment now being ordered for' Courtenay-place, Wellington South, and Kelburn will ■ accommodate the new subscribers, who will eventually belong to the main exchange. The apparatus will be arranged in such a way that when the subscribers belonging to the main exchange are taken off Courte-nay-place, Wellington South, and Kelburn they will retain the numbers allotted to them. Wellington City and suburban work has been hampered owing to shortage of cable, but this has eased and we should not again, have so much trouble in this direction. Automatic exchanges are being installed at Wanganui and' Palmei'ston' North There 'is'hot now much trouble in other centres in ths district, except, of course, where party lines aro held up waiting for poles

The situation in Christchurch city is not so favourable in some respects as at Auckland and Wellington, for there has been nothing done in ;he direction of installing the Western . Electric Automatic 'exchanges. To take up the growth 1500 lines of Strowger automatic were installed in a building in Herefordstreet, but nearly all'of this hax'already been fully taken up by waiting subscribers. To meet the growing demand for connections at' Christchurch, arrangements, are being made for apparatus to be placed at St. Albans and- Sydenham —500 lines at the former and 300 at the latter. Outside the city area, Christchurch district is not in a bad way except where the question of poles comes in.. Dunedin city' situation is similar to Christchurch. Iso builduur for the main exchange is'yet provided, mid temporary expedients are being adopted to meet the growth there on the sain 9 lines as has been done in other centres:. A branch manual exchange was recently op»nnc! at Eoslyn, and provision is now being made for similai assistance at South Dunedin.

TRANSITIONPERIOD DIFFICULTIES. In addition to the difficulties regarding supplies of material, which have been shared in common by all parts of the British .Empire, and in fact by ail parts of the world, during the last few years, New Zealand has had to face the difficulty that when the war broke out the telephone exchanges in the larger centres were in a transition period. The ■old switchboards which had done duty long boyond the period of their useful life, were incapable of accommodating any further subscribers. New exchanges were being pushed on with, and in ordinary circumstances buildings would have been erected and the new automatic exchanges completed in time to meet the growing demands for telephonic communication. The war put. a stop to the supplies of material for the new exchanges, and the Department was, therefore, faced with the dual problem—shortage of material for lines and stoppage of the supply of switchboard material for the new exchanges. The latter troublesare now .being rectified, and more men are at the present moment being employed upon the erection of telephone exchange switchboard apparatus in New Zealand than at any previous time in its history. Some new automatic exchanges have already been opened since the war; others are being pushed ahead, and no time will be lost in briging them into service. Temporary arrangements have been resorted to wherever practicable to supplement the capacity of the old switchboards, and by this means considerable relief has been afforded to the telephone situations, which wo~uld have been much more acute but for the energetic steps that have been taken to do whatever was possible to maintain telephonic communication throughout the country. The Department no»v has telephones, wire, and insulators sufficient for a fair amount of development work, and tenders have closed for more wire, states the report. Ifc is expected that a lot of work will be done this year. The main telegraph and trunk lines will demand a lot of attention. Maintenance work during the past five years has not been possible, except, of course, bare necessities. More rapid progress will be made when the poles avid arms, long overdue from Australia, come to hand.