F.—l.

Another alloy wire called cadmium copper, which has the same tensile strength as bronze, but which is much superior in conductivity, is now available and has been introduced by the Department. This wire will take the place of bronze wire for new work on subscribers' circuits and short toll-lines, and ultimately, when the bronze wire in service has reached the end of its useful life, will be used to replace it entirely. The introduction of cadmium copper wire will bring about an improvement in transmission efficiency and some reduction in initial costs. The length of various items of telephone-exchange plant in existence on the 31st March, 1935 and 1936, respectively, was as follows : —

The percentages of the total wire-mileage in underground, aerial, and submarine cables and open aerial wire respectively for the year ended 31st March, 1936, are as under : — Telephone-exchange wire in underground cables .. . . . . 71 *5 per cent. Telephone-exchange wire in aerial cables .. .. .. 8-5 ~ Telephone-exchange wire in submarine cables .. . . . . o*4 „ Telephone-exchange open aerial wire .. .. .. ..19-6 ~ TELEPHONE STATISTICS. A comparison of statistics in respect of the telephone system is made in the following table, which shows annually since 1927 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 of population of the Dominion :—

6—F. 1.

33

Cable. Wire. Pole- |^f t e ■ i line. Line, Under- . . , Sub- ! ® r I n Aerial Sub- Open Under all ground. - ena ' marine.j Cable, marine. Aerial. Headings. i I r~ Miles. Chains.. Chains. Chains. Chains. Miles. Miles. Miles. Miles. Miles. In existence 011 15,38344,645*96,845*37,618 1,266 391,922*46,601*1,926*107,689*548,138* 31st. March 1935 Erected during year 191 1,747 3,605 170 .. 10,973 183 .. 2,194 13,350 Dismantled during 45 .. 536 578 .. 2,373 627 .. 654 3,654 year I In existence on 15,52946,392 99,914 37,210 1,266 400,522 46,157 1,926 109,229f557,834 31st March, 1936 ! j * Revised figures. f Includes 151 miles of earth-working circuit.

Number of Telephone-stations Year. Number of Miles of Wire. Revenue. Exchanges. Per 1,000 0 a ' Population. £ 1927 .. .. .. 342 440,253 995,071 137,307* 95-48 1928 .. .. .. 344 463,356 1,057,177 144,552* 99-40 1929 .. .. .. 351 495,470 1,135,795 152,541* 103-72 1930 .. .. .. 349 513,096 1,206,714 161,323* 108-37 1931 .. .. .. 349 528,568 1,238,649 161,739* 107-04t 1932 .. .. .. 349 556,735 1,218,072 160,779* 105-45 1933 .. .. .. 349 559,890 1,169,512 155.560* 101-21 1934 .. .. .. 349 560,509 1,164,711 155,059* 100-18 1935 349 548,186f 1,190,773 159,170* 102-06 1936 .. .. .. 348 557,834 1,252,964 166,565* 105-85 * Includes approximately 4,000 non-exchange stations. f Decrease owing to temporary loss of subscribers due to Hawke's Bay earthquake. J Revised figures.