F.—l

The steady growth of the telephone system in New Zealand is exemplified in the following table, which shows annually since 1917 the number of exchanges, the total wire-mileage, the revenue, and the total number of telephone stations, together with the number of telephones for each 1,000 population in New Zealand : —•

TELEPHONE STATISTICS. The manner in which the exchanges are classified, the number of exchanges in each class, and the number of stations connected therewith on the 31st March, 1926, arc shown in the following table : —

lii addition to the above there were 4,448 stations connected by private telephone-lines with departmental toll stations, and 366 stations connected with non-departmental rural exchanges, making a grand total of 130,186 telephone stations on the 31st March, 1926. Of the new connections made during the year, 4,896 were with Class I exchanges, 2,217 with Class II exchanges, 2,382 with Class 111 exchanges, and 3,873 with Class IV (country) exchanges. The waiting-list at these exchanges now stands at 960, 227, 329, and 677 respectively : total, 2,193 —a reduction of 1,429 on the figures for the year ended 31st March, 1925. The waiting-list for Class IV exchanges includes 116 applicants for connections at telephone exchanges authorized but not yet opened.

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Number of Telephone Stations. Year. Number of Miles of Wire. Revenue. Exchanges. _ AAA Total. p Per J'? 00 ropulation. £ 1917 .. .. .. 267 142,469 317,275 62,523 54-32 1918 .. .. .. 280 154,799 344,368 67,763 58-67 1919 .. .. .. 287 165,962 373,169 72,561 61-59 1920 .. .. .. 291 177,509 419,318 80,723 65-26 1921 .. .. 296 192,027 533,535 88,439 69-80 1922 .. .. .. 301 207,529 614,367 94,683 72-78 1923 .. .. .. 320 229,882 595,967 107,036 80-78 1924 .. .. .. 327 269,421 830,470 111,441 82-67 1925 .. .. .. 340 331,453 867,218 120,097* 87-09 1926 .. .. .. 341 402,433 980,281 130,186* 94-40 * Includes approximately 4,000 non-exchange stations.

Class I. Class II. [ Class III. Exchanges or Net- Exchanges or Net-1 Exchanges or Networks observing works observing works observing Class IV. Continuous Continuous Continuous Exchanges Attendance and Attendance and Attendance and or Networks Dominion having more than having 1,001 to having 201 to where the Totals. 3,500 Paying 3,500 Paying 1,000 Haying Attendance Subscribers' Main Subscribers' Main Subscribers' Main is restricted. Stations con- Stations con- Stations connected therewith. nected therewith. necied therewith. Subscribers'main stations .. 34,496 21,569 39,271 27,173 102,509 Toll and service stations .. 580 470 674 2,216 3,940 Public call offices .. . . 298 74 32 5 409 Extension stations —■ P.B.X. .. .. .. 4,964 1,201 341 96 6,602 Ordinary .. .. .. 6,645 2,858 1,447 962 11,912 Telephone stations : Class totals.. 46,983 26,172 21,765 30,452 125,372 Number of exchanges in each class 4 12 41 284 341 Percentage of new connections made 37 16 18 29 with each class of exchange during the year