TELEPHONES

Hokitika Guardian, 5 December 1940, Page 2

TELEPHONES

SHORTAGE OF SUPPLIES. (Per Press Association — Copyright). WELLINGTON, Deb. 4. Because ot the ipresent" impossibility of obtaining equipment for the extension. of an automatic . telephone:'exchange for Hutt Valley, only essential new connections can be made. A partial return has been inajde to the old manual system worked in association with the automatic, but this expedient has also •reached its practical wbrking capacity. The difficulty is not restricted to Hutt Valley, but there it is acute, because of the phenomenal growth of the population. The '.equip-, incut for Hutt exchange was manufactured in London, and since then the manufacturers closed down the London factory, and concentrated on operations in Antwerp. The outbreak of war made impossible the fulfilment of orders for additional- equipment. Sweden, the other greatest European supplier of telephonic equipment, is also virtually cut off from her former world markets. Wellington City automatic exchanges have still some workin? margin, hut the suburban automatic sub exchanges are already becoming congested.