EMPIRE CABLES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23009, 9 April 1938, Page 16

EMPIRE CABLES

REDUCTION OF RATES UNIFORM CHARGE OF 1/3 ANNUAL CONCESSION £500,000 [by telegraph—own correspondent] "WELLINGTON, Friday Substantial reductions in the cable rates to the United Kingdom and certain other parts of the Empire are announced in a statement issued by the Prime Minister, the lit. Hon. M. J. Savage. The basis of the new rates, which will become operative on Monday, April 25, is a uniform charge of Is 3d a word to Empire points in all cases in which this will result in a reduction.

In the case of the United Kingdom, to which part of the Empire approximately 35 per cent of the cable traffic originating in New Zealand is addressed, the reductions may . be expressed as follows:—Tho full rate is reduced from Is 8d to Is 3d a word; the code rate is reduced from Is to lOd a word; the deferred rate is reduced from lOd to 7Jd a word; the daily letter rate-is reduced from 13s lid to 10s 5d for 25 words. Typical Examples

Typical examples of the reductions in the full rates from New Zealand to other parts of the Empire are as follows :• —Canada, from Is fld to Is 3d a word; South Africa, from 2s to Is 3d a wOrd; India, from 2s lOd to Is 3d a word; Straits Settlements, from 2s lOd to Is 3d a word. For code telegrams, deferred messages and daily letter-telegrams the reduced rates will be two-thirds, one-half and one-third respectively of the new full rato of Is 3d. Saving in Dominion Based on tho present volume of traffic originating in the Dominion, the reduced rates will result in a saving to the New Zealand public of the sum of £23,707 per annum, while the total benefit of the reductions in telegraph rates to users of the cable services throughout the Empire is estimated to amount to nearly £500,000 per annum. "This saving to the public," says the statement, "has been made possible by concessions on tho* part of the United Kingdom and Dominion Governments, but the main burden of the reductions has fallen upon the approved British company, Cables and Wireless, Limited."