WORLD LINKED BY TELEPHONE

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3969, 7 October 1930, Page 7

WORLD LINKED BY TELEPHONE

HAPiO DEVELOPMENT OVER A fVIILUON GAILS The ii.se> of long-distance telephony as a means of communication between Croat Britain and the Continent, and also with America and Australia, i> rapidly increasing. Progress began to be marked in 3927, and m the fullowing yeaj - the number of outgoing and incoming calls reached a total oi 557,291) Cast year there was a lurther increase to ],098,981, and the figures for 1980 are expected to he higher It is stated that communication has now been established with 90 per cent, of the tele-phone-using people ol the world. Before the Great War telephonic links with other countries were very few. A set vice between London and Paris was opened in 1891, and in J9OO direct conversation was established with Belgium. An other ten years then passed before facilities for through communication with Switzerland became available. After 1914 progress was interrupted for a long period, us tlie chaotic conditions which followed the upheaval of more than four years m strife hindered new developments. The present forward movement (says ‘The Times’) can be associated with tlie introduction of the thermionic valve which opened up fresh fields m long-distance telephonic work. An international consultation committee was appointed, and the explorations of this body opened the way for the rental liable advances of the last four years. Before the new era began Great Britain had fewer than twenty circuits over Europe, and the mimbei is non ninety A full service between England and Germany was started in 192 i, and with the use of repeater stations country after country has since been brought within the operation of the international system. Direct communication can now be obtained through the British Post Office with Austria. Belgium, Czecho-Slovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and, indeed, every important country of the Conti nent, with the exceptions of Russia. Greece, and Turkey. North Africa is touched at Ceuta. IMPETUS OF WIRELESS. A world extension of the service has been made possible by the developments in wireless telephony. The transatlantic service covers the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba, while cum munication with Brazil, the Argent me. and Uruguay is effected through either Paris or Madrid. As soon as the necessary equipment is provided it is hoped that direct transmission will he possible between Great Britain and the South American continent. The extensive use made of the transatlantic service has enabled the authorities to reduce the -tariff from an initial charge of £ls for three minutes’ conversation to £6 for the same time. Four channels are now available as compared with only one when the system was inaugurated, and calls can be passed from any part oi this■ country to the greater part of the United States. A twenty-four hours’ service is provided Communication lias still to he established with India, South Alma, and New Zealand, but this should not he long delayed. The Postmaster General stated recently that experiments wen* offing conducted with a view to the establishment of a wireless telephone service between Australia and New Zealand, and it was hoped that this would be linked with the Anglo- Auk tralian service. 'The question of pro viding a direct service with New Zen land would he considered later il this was justified by the amount ol traffic. With regard to the Union oi South Africa, Mr Lees-Smith said that the authorities in that dominion had declared their policy to be to establish a Government-owned wireless station in the neighbourhood ol Johannesburg instead of utilising the existing station of the South African Marconi Company , but they did not feel able to commit themselves at the moment to the capital expenditure involved. The average weekly number of wireloss telephone calls to or from Australia since the opening of the service about three months ago is forty-seven, and, although the number fluctuates cmisidcrably horn week v.o week, the general level of traffic; is considered satisfactory for a new service. Com’munication, which at tlie outset was confined to Sydney and Melbourne, has now been extended to Brisbane and other places on the main telephone lines