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MACHINE-PRINTING TELEGRAPHS Consequent upon the increased volume of telegraph, traffic handled at Tauranga, machine-printing telegraph equipment was installed at that office on the 15th December. Similar equipment was provided also at the post-office, Mount Eden, which has been made a delivery depot for telegrams addressed to the surrounding area. INSTALLATION OF MACHINE-PRINTING SERVICES FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND IN NEWSPAPER OFFICES A new departure in the development of machine-printing telecommunication facilities in New Zealand was the installation during the year of direct page-teleprinter circuits linking a number of the main police-stations, and the provision in Wellington of a page-teleprinter network linking the Central Telegraph Office with the offices of the three daily newspapers. RESTORATION OF PUBLIC TELEGRAPH SERVICES WITH OVERSEAS COUNTRIES Public telegraph service has now been restored to all enemy and enemy occupied countries except Germany and Japan. TELEPHONE-EXCHANGE SERVICES TELEPHONE DEVELOPMENT During the year the number of telephone subscribers increased from 191,189 to 197,513, an increase of 3-3 per cent, compared with the previous year's increase of 5-2 per cent. (See also Table No. sin Appendix.) Every endeavour was made during the year to provide service for the maximum number of new subscribers possible with the equipment available. Generally, no restriction was placed upon the use of new equipment for the provision of connections required for business purposes, including telephones required by farmers, at exchanges at which there was no lack of switching accommodation. At such exchanges, residential telephone connections were provided to the extent that equipment was recovered following upon existing subscribers relinquishing service. The supply position has now eased to. the extent that all wartime restrictions on the provision of telephone-exchange services have been lifted. Owing, however, to the lack of switching equipment and to congestion in the telephone cables, little can be done meantime to provide service for waiting applicants at many of the larger exchanges. This applies particularly to the four main centres. Approximately 70 per cent, of the 27,000 applications on hand for telephone connections are in respect of service at exchanges at which switching equipment is congested. Every possible step is being taken to relieve the congestion at these exchanges. TOLL TRAFFIC The number of toll calls handled continues to increase. During the year 20,970,161 calls were handled, compared with 19,545,441 for the previous year, an increase of 7-3 per cent. (See also Table No. 6in Appendix.) While delays on toll calls during the peak calling periods are still fairly heavy on some circuits, a considerable improvement has been effected in the toll service generally following the provision of a number of additional toll outlets during the year under review.

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