SUBSCRIBERS COMPLAIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26774, 18 May 1948, Page 6

SUBSCRIBERS COMPLAIN

ANDERSON’S BAY TELEPHONE ..SERVICE MANY FAULTS ALLEGED Complaints by subscribers in Anderson’s Bay that the telephone service had deteriorated since the opening of the automatic exchange last year were referred by the Daily Times to an official of the Post and Telegraph Department yesterday. “ There should be no cause for complaint,” said the official. “There was some circuit trouble immediately after the exchange began to operate, but the modification has been completed and the situation should have been rectified.” Undue noise, difficulty in establishing connections and frequent " cutting-off ” were included among the faults attributed by subscribers to the new service. One householder says he has experienced telephonic interference with his radio. Foreign noises such as dialling and the “ engaged ” signal have interrupted reception of wireless programmes so badly that the set has been rendered useless on several occasions.

Although the equipment installed was old, the department’s official did not- consider that it was unreliable. The apparatus had formerly been used for experimental purposes in the United Kingdom. The trouble possibly lay, the official added, with individual aerial arrangements. An improvement might be effected if leading-in cables were satisfactorily earthed. “No complaints have been received from’ subscribers in Green Island, where an automatic exchange was recently opened,” the official concluded. “My department will attend to any complaints that are brought to its attention by telephone users who are experiencing difficulty with the service.”