TELEPHONE CHARGES.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 31362, 18 January 1923, Page 5

TELEPHONE CHARGES.

INCREASE FOR BUSINESS.

ALTERATION FOR RESIDENCES. # *

feoctnc Telegraph — Press Association Wellington, January 17. The Postmaster-General, „ , . on '. ' ' Cl Coates lias issued the following ■statement regarding the, proposed revision of the telephone lees:--■‘On several occasions during the past year or so the question of altering the rating system tor ptone exchange connections has been referred to in the House and I intimated last season that t proposed to place the matter before Cabinet as soon as possible after the prorogation of Parliament. •-Tallinn last, year’s figures as a basis, the position is that- the loss on the telephone branch was £175,943. and the rates for the telephone service, proposed in the new schedule, will, it is estimated, just about recoup the loss. The proposed charges are designed, with a> view to being a reasonable charge against the user, instead of the general tats payer bearing a. portion of that loss, and at the same time, to encourage the use of telephones. “Generally speaking, I believe the public have bad the impression that the telephone service is a profitable one to the State. This is not the case, and the fact that, a continual loss has been shown will not be surprising when I state that the present- schedule of rates in Xow Zealand is ridiculously lower than thatof any pther country in the world. Even the proposed tariff will he lower than that of any other country.

'“As an indication of the increased cost I -should mention that the average initial cost of providing a subscriber with e telephone exchange connection in 1913, was £32, whereas t-o-dav it is not less than £SO.

“From the point, of view of til® number of calls, the present, rating system is inequitable, benefittiug the city subscribers at the expense of the residential subscribers in the suburbs. Take for instance a typical -case of a business subscriber in the -city, who makes oil an average 20 effective calls on 300 days <>i the year and the case of a residential subscriber, say at Island Bay, who makes on an average three effective calls on 365 days of the year, and observe how anomalous is the charge per call ; Annual rental on city business .subseribei, ,C 9 10s; annual rental of Island Ray residential subscriber. £l6 os; city subscriber makes 6000 calls per annum for £9 10s. equivalent ’o -38 cl per call; Island Ray residential subscriber makes 1095 calls per annum for £l6 ss, equivalent to 3.56 d per call. Then there is the case of subscribers at,, say, H awora and Paeroa: Annual rental of business subscriber at Hawera, £7 ; annual rental of private residence subscriber at Hawera, £l3 los : business subscriber makes 6000

calls per annum for £7. equivalent to ,3d per call ; private residence ■subscriber makes 1005 calls per -annum for £l3 15s. equivalent to 3d per call • annual rental of business isubscji'i.’ber at- Paeroa, £6; annua,! rental of private residence subscriber at Ration, £ll ; business subscriber makes 6000 calls per annum for £6. equivalent to fd per call; private residence subscriber makes 1095 calls for £ll jier annum, equivalent to 201 per call. In short- the ritv business subscriber pays -under

the existing rating system at the rate of approximately one-third of a penny per call while the Island Rax residential subscriber has to pay at the rate of approximately 3J-d per call. This is obviously an anomaly j:,ikl an injustice to the residential -übscriber. In the proposed new rating schedule the residential rates at tlic [larger exchanges are approximately 50 per cent, less than the business rates. "The cost of providing the telephone service to country districts is relatively higher than that in tlia cities. This is due largely to the fact, that in the cities where the telephone system is highly developed one pole line carries a great number of wires, whereas in the country diskjiiijts .here are numbers of Ipole lines each carrying only one pair of wires. It is net expected that the ordinary and rural line rates under the new scheme, will bo sufficient to meet the cost of establishing maintaining and operating long distance connections iti country districts, but development in rural areas will considerably enhance the value of and the demand for telephone srvice in the cities and tmVns. the proposed new rates for which have liecn cornput, d on a remunerative basis. ’I he Ifuriiishiim of telephone [service to country and baokblock subscribers, at l. --s than cost also represents a. I’olicv iou-arrl which town and suburban 'subscribers to whom telephones ar,- not a convenietiee, but ofttimes a luxury should not object to contribute. I I IK MAY SCARE 11,. following table will give- a fairly dear indication of the charges under the new system: MONTHLY HATE PER SC HSOItI HER. No. 1 Class.- Multi-office exchanges ■(Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch anil Dunedin) and exchanges within multi-office areas: ». d. Business (one party) 30 Business (two party) in same town block 20 Residential (one party) 15 Residential (two party) 12 6 Residential (four party) 11 3 No. 2 Class (of over 150 paying subscribers). — Single office exchanges v.tith continuous attendance. Examples : Gisborne, Hamilton, Hawera, Napier Wanganui, Dannevirke:—

a. d. Business (one party) 21 8 Business (two party) in same town block 15 0 Residential (one party 13 4 Residential (two jrwirty) 11 0 Residential (four party) 10 0 No. 3 Class. —Single office exchanges, with restricted attendance. Examples: Foxton and Levin: s. d. Business (one party) 15 O Business (two party) in same town block 12 6 Residential (one party) 10 0 Residential (two party) ... 7 8 Residential (four party) ... 6 8 ADDITION A L CHARGES. In addition to the above, there will he a small monthly rental lor miscellaneous services and extra equipment. For instance, an. extension telephone within the same building and wiring up to a length of 110 yards, 2s 6d j>er month ; extension bell of an ordinary type, including ordinary wiring up to a 'engtli of 111) yards within the same building, 9d per month; head receiver as auxiliary to hand receiver, 9d per month, and so on. MONTH EY ACCOUNTS.

Under the new scheme it is proposed to collect subscriptions monthly in a. wav similar to, say, the gas and electric light accounts. In addition to the subscription an account will he rendered for the amount duo for toll calls. In the event of the toll account for the preceding month not being paid with the amount for the current month’s rental the telephone will be disconnected. Concluding, t-lie Minister says: “U has been the desire of my principal departmental officers for some considerable time to provide an efficient and popular telephone service tjo equitably meet all conditions, and with them I look forward to those amended regulations and charges -materially assisting in that direction. Further, within a. reasonable space of time New Zca’qjid subscribers call expect an exchange service at least equal to that in the United States of America, whi.li is recognised as tin' most efficient service in the world. It is desired to bring about the altered conditions at- an ■early date.” J. G. COATES, Bos fcm Sister-General.