MORE TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERS

Southland Times, Issue 23828, 27 May 1939, Page 12

MORE TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERS

LARGE INCREASE FOR YEAR (United Press Association) AUCKLAND, May 26. With 12.69 telephones a 100 of population, New Zealand occupies second place in the world in telephone density, the United States of America being first. This information was given by the Postmaster-General when interviewed today. The total number of telephone subscribers in New Zealand on _ March 31 was 157,605, an increase of 9755 compared with the previous year. The Auckland metropolitan area contains the largest network in the Dominion, the number, of telephones on March 31 being 21,589, an increase of 4990 in three years. The provision of additional high-grade telephone circuits throughout the Dominion has been responsible for a marked expansion of telephone traffic. The total number of calls handled by the department for the year ended March 31 last was 15,567,000, an increase of 1,086,790 over the previous year. To meet the growing demands tor telephone service, extensions and additions to the technical equipment in the Auckland metropolitan exchange area are planned. To enable the more important towns in the Waikato and King Country to obtain direct telegraph outlets to Auckland, and provide additional outlets between Hamilton and Auckland, an 18— channel voice frequency telegraph system is being established in the near future. A six-channel voice frequency telegraph system is being installed between Auckland and Wellington in the near future.