AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE

New Zealand Times, Volume LIV, Issue 12659, 20 January 1927, Page 6

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE

INSTALLED AT HAWERA DATE OF CUT-OVER DECIDED OTHERS TO FOLLOW In record time, the new automatic telephone exchange at Hawera has been installed by the experts from Wellington, the period being a little under four months, and the cut-over will take place on January 29th. Mr A. Gibbs, chief telegraph engineer, and Mr H. L. Cummings, inspecting engineer, of the Post and Telegraph Department, returned from the Hamilton and Taranaki districts at the end of last week, following the installation of an improv 7 ed manual system at New Plymouth. The system installed at Hawera is entirely of British manufacture, and represents the latest developments of automatic telephone practice. Considerable local interest has been taken in the change-over to the automatic exchange, which is equipped for 800 exclusive subscribers, 100 four-party lines, and 50 ten-party rural lines. The system employed up to the present day has been a manual one of a design which has now outgrown successful operation by extension along similar lines, hence the introduction of the automatic system without any intermediary stage such as is sometimes introduced. Similar installations are now proceeding at Stratford, Dannevirlce, and Napier, and in a few months’ time it is expected that these exchanges will also he ciit-over to the automatic system of operation.