AUTOMATIC TELEPHONES

Hokitika Guardian, 2 December 1929, Page 2

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONES

GROWTH OF SYSTEMS. ABROAD.

WELLINGTON, Nov. 28

“Neiv Zealand leads the world in regard to the proportion of automatic telephone exchanges installed,” stated Sir William Noble, a director of the British Electric Company, in the course of an interview. Sir William who was Engineer-in-Chief to the British Post Office, , having retired from that Department in May, 1922, arrived in Wellington from Napier He has come to this side of the Avorld Avith the object of visiting his company’s branches in Australia and NeAv Zealand, having timed his arrival in Australia to enable him to attend at Ilobert some Aveeks ago the. opening of the first automatic telephone exchange in Tasmania. He had visited NeAv Zealand some three years ago. Sir William spoke interestingly on the .expansion of the automatic telephone system in Britain and other countries.

WHAT ENGLAND IS DOING. “In England up to about 1924,” he stated, “ they were experimenting Avith different systems of automatic telephone installations; and after some years’ trial of several systems, the British Post Office decided to install one system only—the Strowger—and is now forging ahead rapidly svith the installation of that system throughout the country. Several 10,000-line > exchanges have already been erected in London; but the total required - for the London area will be'in the neighbourhood of seventy-tAvo. The works will proceed continuously until the full number is completed, and it is estimated that that will take from' ten to tAvefve years. In the meantime smaller exchanges are being installed throughout the British Isles. The city of-Leeds was one of the first to install an automatic telephone system the work being completed during the war. Automatic equipments have beep provided since then in a large number of towns and cities, including Edinburgh' (Staffordshire). The Birmingham installation is uoav in hand orders having been placed for the three or four 10,000-line exchanges needed in ■that area. Manchester, Liverpool! Glasgow, land other large cities will each'- require ’ several such : exchanges and the-work of erecting them will be

overtaken soon as possible. The' time tor installing them is in each case by a number bf factors one of Avhicli is : the' age > of‘existing central-batter}' manual equipments, which' of course, will not be scrapped until they are nearing the end of their period of usefulness. ■! ' M VILLIAGE AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE.

“It will, therefore be some years before the British Isles, are anything like completely equiped with the automatic telephones. Of course, the smaller places Avill still employ the manual equipment. There is, horveyer, one scheme that-.the British--Post, Office- has embarked;upon. Avhich is /likely to prove usefAil ‘and-economical; and that is-the erection of small rural automatic tele•phone exchanges in villages where a 24-hour service could not profitably be given on any other system. The British Post Office has already’placed orders for'about 200 of thesfe small exchanges] : In these'cases-they erect a small building, usually of concrete, and install the necessary apparatus, ahd the exchange is kept locked up, except for the periodical visits of inspection by the workmen who keep the apparatus in good going order. The British General Ele'ctrical Company is one of the first large telephone manufacturing firms supplying the automatic equipment to the British Post Office .

POSITION IN UNITED STATES. “In America until about 1925, only a limited number of automatic exchanges were in operation, mostly installed by private telephone companies outside the control of the great American Telegraph and Telephone Company. This company confined itself to the manual equipment until quite recently, hut now it is rapidly' changing over to the automatic system. Already several large automatic exchanges have been erected in New York and other btg cities; and like England and other countries, America will eventually have nothing but automatic exchanges, except in the smaller centres. America leads in the number of telephones per head of population; but New Zealand is certainly in the first four or five in that h pect, and is well the first in regard to the proportion cdf automatic telephone exchanges installed. It is a higlr proportion when one considers the population of the Dominion. New Zealand leads the world in this respect.

ENGINEERS’ WORK. “In passing, I would like to compliment the New Zealand Post Office telephone engineers on the excellent work they have done in the installing of the automatic exchanges. The work is done hero by the Post and Telegraph Department’s own employees, whereas in most other countries such work is carried out by the contractors who supply the equipment. In Australia also, the work is done by the Department’s own men. This as in the case of New Zealand, has really been brought about in large measure by the fact that it would be very expensive to bring a body of installers over here from England or America, or wlierew the plant comes from. Australia has done very well so far as the automatic installations are concerned, and is forging ahead rapidly now. But she has probably still some way to go to catch up with New Zealand in regard to the proportion of automatic exchanges erected.”