UP TO DATE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 102, 26 October 1929, Page 10

UP TO DATE

TELEGRAPH SYSTEM

LATEST IMPROVEMENTS

EXTENSION OF LINES

The expenditure for the last finan- . «ial year in extending and improving the telephone, telegraph, and wireless facilities throughout the Dominion amounted to £624,414 (states the Publie. Works Statement). Some idea of the extensive network ef lines interconnecting the various exchanges and telegraph offices throughout the "Dominion may be gauged from the fact that on the 31st March last there were approximately 380,000 poles in use, carrying over 62,602 miles of open wire. In addition, approximately 400,000. poles and over 495,000 miles of wire of all classes were in existence in telephone exchango subscribers' lines. Notwithstanding the many important extensions that have been made to the system of electrical during the last few years, the necessity for additional facilities, particularly in the matter of ielephono lines, is just p.s real and just as urgent today as it was ten years ago. This condition is not peculiar to New Zealand— it is. world-wide. In all ■ the foremost ' telephone countries the difficulty is not to obtain the traffic,'but to keep pace ■with it in the matter of providing additional circuits. Telephone service is now so intimately connected with the business and social life of the community that no sooner is telephone com- . munication provided between cities and towns widely separated (and not previ- ; ously inter-connected) than there is a , demand for additional -circuits to re- ' ,lieve the traffic congestion. A striking example in that respect is the inter- , Island telephone service. Two years : ago telephonic communication between (Wellington and Christchurcli. was im- ( possible. To-day as a result of provid- ' ing an efficient means of communication . between'the two cities, it is necessary ; to double the capacity--, of the South . Island land-line section of the Welling- . ton-Christchurch circuit in order to relieve the congestion of traffic. CARRIER-TELEPHONY. In tho matter of extending and improving the long-distanco telephone facilities throughout the Dominion the most important development during the : year was the introduction of the system known as carrier-current telephony. The carrier-current sj'stem eousists ■briefly in the application of radio-fre? queney methods to existing telephone circuits, thus enabling additional telephone speech channels to bo obtained without increasing the existing wires. The new process is in reality a system of wireless communication in which the electro-magnetic waves, instead of "being broadcast, are directed along the metallic conductors of the wires already erected without interfering with the purposes for which such' wires were originally designed. The most important feature of the new system-ifrom tho practical point of view is the large saving it effeets in installation and linemaintenance costs. In addition, the system provides an excellent speakingcircuit, and'as compared with the wellknown metallic wire circuit it gives louder speech, and is less subject to the interfering noises caused by power lines and similar disturbing influences. The initial installation in New Zealand of carrier-current equipment comprises three single-channel systems for use between Auckland and Hamilton; a threercbannel system for use between Hamilton and Palmerston North, which will provide a single channel between Hamilton and Palmerston North and two channels between Wellington and Auckland; and a single-channel system to supplement the South Island landline section of the Welfington-Christ-church telephone circuit. At the present time two channels of the Auck-land-Hamilton system aro in operation, and it is hoped to have the other systems working at an early date. When the three systems mentioned are in use, and the equipment, is properly tuned in, high-grade and efficient telephone speech channels will bo available at any hour of the day or night between Auckland and Dunedin, and between the principal centres within those limits. In addition, much of the congestion which now exists on tho longdistance lines within each of the two Islands will bo considerably relieved. As soon as the above-mentioned systems are in operation consideration will be given to the question of installing carrier systems between other centres. SHORT-HAITI- TRAFFIC. A great deal of work was also carried out during the year in the direction of .extending and improving the facilities for short-hau. traffic. In almost every part of the Dominion some facility was provided for the purpose of relieving congestion of traffic or for giving service to some backblocks settlers that had not previously enjoyed any of tho privileges or conveniences of tho telephone. In addition, the speech efficiency of toll circuits and tho physical condition of the lines were considerably improved by the carry-ing-but of many reconstruction works. These works included the renewal of pole-lines, the replacing or ( respaeing of poles, the strengthening of existing poles, the regulation of wires, the rearranging of transpositions, the sub: stitution of copper for iron wires, and the re-erection of circuits on the twist system. The steady expansion and growth of the local-exchange systems which has characterised telephone development in New Zealand during recent years was continued during 1928, the number of "now connections installed being 12,119, as compared with an average of 12,112 per year during the preceding five, years. The total number of telephone connections with departmental . exchanges at the 31st March was 147,936, the number of telephones connected with toll stations and non-departmental stations 4605, making a total of 152,541, which represents over ten telephones per hundred of the population, a telephone density exceeded only by tho "United States and Canada. A feature of las'* year's development in telephone exchange systems was the large number of intercommunicating and extsnsion telephones installed, the' rate of increase being 7.7 per cent, .as compared with.4.9 per cent, in the case of main stations. This was due to a large extent to the increased number of intercommunicating systems installed -in business houses. Tho local intercommunicating system in most popular demand was the key-box interphono type, large numbers of which were installed in business establishments where the requirements in intercommunicating facilities did not exceed twenty positions. Next in jrder of demand were private braneh exchanges of the full automatic type with capacities varying from twenty extension stations Upwards. AUTOMATIC TELEPHONES. j The latest development in the auto-matic-telephone industry is the manu-! facture of a small type of automatic exchange suitable for rural communities and capable of giving a twenty- ! fonr-hour servico. One of such systems has been obtained by tho Department, and will shortly he installed in a suitable rural locality with a view to testing out its suitability in aetual practice for the exacting conditions that prevail | in rural exchange areas in New Zea-

land, and where a twenty-four-hour service under manual conditions would be economically prohibitive. Should the trial prove successful and the actual costs be reasonably low, tho questku of installing twenty-four-hour service automatic exchanges in rural communities will be fully investigated. for economic reasons, however, the development of such a policy would have to proceed gradually, as a large capital expenditure would be involved.