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the Far East and had eventually abandoned them entirely owing to interruptions. A cable ship arrived in the Colony at the end of March, 1946, and it was found that owing to the depredations of the Japanese and of some of the more enter- prising local fishermen some 30 miles of cable out of the first 50 miles of the submarine cable to Singapore had to be replaced. This was done and communication was resumed. All the other cables running out of the Colony were later found to be in like state, and many miles of new cable will be required before further links can be restored. Commercial traffic grew rapidly from the first restoration of communica- tions and by the spring of 1946 already exceeded the volume of traffic handled in pre-war days.
Broadcasting.
Broadcasting equipment was overhauled and renovated, and with the erection of two efficient medium-wave transmit- ters the pre-war double programme in English and Chinese was re-introduced. The short-wave programme was resumed on the pre-war frequency of 9.52 megacycles. The trans- mission was weak and unreliable during 1946, and at the end of the year steps were being taken to procure more suitable equipment and to provide a more efficient short-wave service.
Telephones.
An automatic public telephone service is provided by the Hong Kong Telephone Company, Limited. In 1941, the com- pany was serving 14,000 lines on Hong Kong Island and 5,100 on the mainland as well as a system of 500 government and military lines on a separate automatic exchange. Trunk calls could be made to Canton and there was a radio-telephone service to Manila and elsewhere. On the liberation of the Colony some 8,000. lines were rapidly put into operation by those members of the company's staff who were released from internment. The equipment had suffered the usual neglect and under-maintenance and a good deal of movable stores and equipment was lost; but a workable service was supplied to Government and essential services from the earliest days of the re-occupation and the public demand was met as far as possible. The first telephone directory appeared within three months. During 1946, major damage to cables was repaired and the service showed a steady improvement. The cost of service had risen only 50% above 1941 rates, a very moderate increase when compared with the general rise in costs. At the end of the year there were 16,357 subscribers and addi- tional demand existed which could not be met as the plant was loaded to capacity. Comprehensive plans for rehabilitation and expansion were in hand with a view to providing service for 28,000 lines as soon as the necessary trained staff and equipment were available.
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