LINKING UP OF EUROPE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19032, 1 June 1925, Page 11

LINKING UP OF EUROPE.

VAST TELEPHONE SCHEME. UNITING ALL THE CAPITALS. BRITISH ENGINEERS' TRIUMPH. A new era in telephonic communication recently has been opened by experimental work by the leading engineers of the British General Post Office. Scientifically, there now remains no obstacle to a telephone cable between London and New York, though such a scheme has not yet been officially advanced, because of the cost and a doubt as to its financial success. The leading Post Office officials have, however, been making experiments which it is hoped will shortly lead to a . vast telephonic system which will unite London with every great city in Europe and Asia. An engineer on the staff has made three tests which are the forerunners of the new inter-European service. 'I he first was between London and Stockholm, the second between London and lurin, and the third between London and Berlin. A call has never been put through before between these points. All three proved entirely successful. It is hoped that communication with Homo will also be possible. The best engineers in,the Post Office have been engaged on the work. It was realised that the hardest test of all would be the London to Stockholm call, because this communication, well over 1500 miles in distance, would entail two submarine cables and three land cables. Every engineer along the route was warned, and communication was established via Amsterdam and Hamburg, then across the Baltic to Malmo, and thenco by land cable to Stockholm. The result was fairly easy conversation with the oxchange at Stockholm, but poor results when the exchange switched on to a subscriber. In the second test, from London to Rome, conversation was established with Turin j but the conditons between Verona and Rome made speech impossible with Rome itself. In the third test, tho Berlin exchange answered very clearly, although the subscriber's voice was dim—about the same strength as the exchange operator's voice at Stockholm. Night Service to Sweden. It is now established that telephonic communication has no limit from a scientific point of view. Technical difficulties, due to dfferent telephone conditions in the various countries, alono prevent communication from any one city to anot her. These difficulties, it is hoped, will be overcome during the next few months. As soon as the test had been made the General Post Office wrote to all the points affected, suggesting certain technical improvements. It was stated that if a second test between London and Stockholm proved that these improvements had been made, a regular night service would be begun between the two cities. This will be followed by services between London. Berlin, Rome, and other cities, as soon as these experiments meet with equal success. The developments leading to these experiments may be briefly recalled. Mr. Gill, the president, of the Institute of Electrical Engineers, gave an address in 1922 on the conditons of long-distance telephones, which, owing to a recent application of valves for repeaters, caused telephonic communication to have no limit theoretically as far as distance was concerned. The Echo de Paris took the matter up, and an article was written, inspired by the French Post Office Minister, which set the whole of Europe discussing the vast future of the telephone. France expressed the fear of German competition, and pleaded to act as Europe's exchange. As a result of this a committee was formed, The first meeting was held from I March 11 to March 20, 1923, and Belgium, ■Spain, Switzerland, France, and Great Britain participated. This committee rejected Mr. Gill's suggestion for an interi national company, but decided to ask all the European countries to facilitate tho working of a European system. Europe's Telephone Capital. The fruits of this suggestion were seen on April 28, 1924, when the first international conference took place. This time representatives of no fewer than 19 countries attended, and it was decided to standardise cables and apparatus, and to agree .as to the routes which .were to be followed for the main circuits. Cables were also to be standardised where they passed from one country to the other. A permanent commission was then appointed with representatives of the eleven largest countries. This met in September last year. The preliminary details, which were the forerunners of. the vast system now under discussion, wore announced a few months ago. The second international conference will take place in Paris on June 22. The reports of the commission will then bo read and adopted, and the leading engineers of every country in Europe will | take part in the discussion. One of the most important items- for discussion will be whether France or Ger* many is to provide Europe's central telephone exchange. Both have made desperate efforts to secure this honour, which would not only make the favoured country enormously powerful in a future war, but would bring in vast revenues. On the suggestion of the British General PostOffice France has undertaken to overhaul her telephone cables to increase efficiency. It has been decided for tho moment to make French the international language for all experiments in Europe.