RADIO-TELEPHONY

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 68, 17 September 1936, Page 11

RADIO-TELEPHONY

TALKS WITH THE AWATEA

Radio-telephony, previously associated with calls to Australia and Britain, is taking on a new phase owing to the introduction into the trans-Tasman service of the Union Company's liner Awatea, with its ur>to-date equipment.

The Postmaster-General, the Hon. F. Jones, announced today that the Post Office has arranged a Tasman radio service by which calls may be exchanged between passengers on the Awatea and any of the 130,000 telephone subscribers in New Zealand at all stages of the voyage. "Test communications between the Department's commercial radio station ZLW and the Awatea during the liner's voyage to New Zealand," explained the Post-master-General, "proved; that the equipment on ship and shore is capable of giving absolutely clear reception over distances much longer than the route between New Zealand and Australia. Therefore, speech can be maintained at any time of the day. It is proposed to charge 3s 4d per minute, •with a minimum of 10s (three minutes), and the calling schedule, having regard to radio watches maintained on the Awatea, will range over a period from 9 a.m. till 9 p.m., while Sunday calling hours will be 5.30 p.m. till 8.30 p.m. Special calls can, however, be made at any time by prior arrangement."