COMMUNICATIONS
201
About 12,000 telegrams are handled every day in the Central Tele- graph Office. The first leased telegraph circuits were operational in 1954. There are now 70 leased overseas circuits between Hong Kong and Bangkok, Bombay, Calcutta, Colombo, Djakarta, Karachi, London, Manila, New York, Paris, Rangoon, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei and Tokyo.
Telephone services throughout the Colony are provided by the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited, a public company operating under a franchise from the government. In addition to internal services the company, in collaboration with Cable and Wireless Limited, provides telephone services to most overseas countries, as well as to ships moored in the harbour and at sea. The company's system is fully automatic and comprises more than 300,000 working stations operating through 28 separate exchanges. Rentals are on a flat rate basis of $350 a year for business lines and $235 a year for residential lines, these rates being probably the lowest in the world. Demand for telephones continues to increase and the growth rate is in excess of 20 per cent a year. Towards the end of 1966 more than 5,500 applications for new lines and 2,500 applications for removal of telephones were being received each month. To meet this situation the company has in hand a vast development programme which includes the commissioning, during 1967, of eight further exchanges, extensions to existing exchanges and associated cable schemes. The present common numbering system of six digits is insufficient to carry the requirements of future expansion as projected into the 1980's. During the next two years the Colony will be divided into three areas designated by an area code for use prior to the six digits, which will give a possible maximum of 1,800,000 lines.
The government's Advisory Committee on Telephone Services reviews the operation, improvement and expansion of telephone services, examines complaints and suggestions from the public, and makes periodical reports to the Governor in Council. Under the chairmanship of an unofficial member of the Legislative Council, it includes four other unofficial members, the Postmaster General and the Deputy Economic Secretary.