p.—l.

Tlie telegraph and telephone wire in use on the 31st March, 1933 viz., 64,221 miles is classified as under :— Miles. Used exclusively for telephone toll traffic .. .. •• •• 6,826 Used exclusively for telegraph traffic .. .. •• ■■ 8,153 Used simultaneously and (or) conjointly for telegraph and telephone toll traffic .. • • • • •• • • • • .. 49,242 The total length of wire that may be used for telephone toll traffic is 56,068 miles ; the total length that may be used for the transmission of telegrams, 57,395 miles ; and the length of telephone tolllines over which telegrams may be transmitted by telephone, 23,222 miles. The total length of Morse circuit derived from the superimposing of telephone circuits is 13,289 miles, and the total length of additional telephone toll circuit improvised from the existing wire by the use of subsidiary apparatus associated therewith (so-called phantom working) is 7,369 miles. In addition, 3,674 channel miles of telephone toll circuit have been obtained from the application of the carrier-current telephone system to telephone trunk lines. NEW ZEALAND SUBMARINE CABLES. COOK STRAIT CABLES. With the exception of No. 1 Oterongu Bay - White Bay single-core telegraph cable, the Cook Strait submarine cable circuits have functioned satisfactorily throughout the year. The £*0. 1 Oterongu Bay-White Bay cable went out of action in August. At that time the trouble was diagnosed as an earth fault', but it has since developed into a total break approximately half a nautical mile from the Oterongu Bay cable hut. As the other cables across the Strait are sufficient for present traffic requirements, it is proposed to hold over repairs until a second cable goes out of commission. FOVEAUX STRAIT CABLE. The submarine cable between Stewart Island and the mainland has remained in good working order throughout the year. The short-wave radio link between. Half-moon Bay (Stewart Island) and Awarua-Radio which was used when the cable was out of action in 1931 is being maintained as an emergency channel of communication. RADIO TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE SERVICES. OVERSEAS RADIO TELEPHONE SERVICE. The facilities for telephoning to Australia and Great Britain, and to a number of other countries via London, continue to be used as well as can be expected in view of the present economic conditions. Under favourable circumstances communication is excellent, and experience proves that the only limitation to the service becoming as reliable and effective as a land-line connection could be overcome by the provision of more powerful transmitters to counteract unfavourable atmospheric conditions. While the present service is a high-grade one and the restricted hours adequately meet existing requirements, it is hoped as the demand grows to considerably improve and extend the service Under present conditions the available hours of service are not nearly fully occupied, and the existing equipment is capable of carrying a considerable increase in business and social calls between New Zealand and overseas countries. _ The service lias been extended to Ceuta (North Africa), Gibraltar, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, making it available to most of the European countries. DEPARTMENTAL RADIO-STATIONS : OPERATION. The departmental radio stations gave uninterrupted service during the year. Auckland-Radio . For the past three years a temporary receiving station remotely controlled from AucklandRadio has been located on private property at Takapuna. In view of the very satisfactory reception obtained in this locality the Department proposes to acquire a site of approximately 2 acres near Brown's Bay and to erect a permanent building thereon to house the receiving equipment which will be transferred in the near future. As in the case of the temporary station, the apparatus will normally be unattended.

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