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COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
world. It currently handles 18,000 messages an hour and has a capacity of half a million per day.
Installation of a computerised telex exchange was completed in April 1972. This enables telex subscribers to directly select the called subscribers' number on automatic routes. The new exchange also enabled Cable and Wireless to reduce the minimum charge period from three minutes to one minute. A marine telex service providing ships at sea with facilities for worldwide telex connection through Hong Kong is also operative. Overseas telephone services continue to link Hong Kong with the rest of the world.
Telephone service within Hong Kong is provided by the Hong Kong Telephone Company Ltd, which is a public company operating under a franchise from the government. The telephone system is fully automatic_and consists of 45 exchanges serving some 795,000 telephone stations, resulting in a penetration factor of 18.5 telephones per 100 population, which is the highest rate in Asia apart from Japan. Exchange line rentals are on a flat rate basis of $350 a year for business lines and $235 a year for residential lines. No charge is made for calls made within the territory. Connection to most overseas countries and to ships at sea is available through the external facilities operated by Cable and Wireless Ltd.
The Hong Kong Telephone Company's service has been improved by the pro- gressive incorporation of modern techniques, such as the use of pressurised cable and pulse code modulation carrier systems. Operation of the first electronically controlled exchange used in the network has been successful and the company is installing a system of microwave junction circuits to supplement the cable network.-
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The demand for telephone service has continued at a very high rate and the annual growth rate is in the region of 17 per cent. Some 100,000 new lines were installed during the year, which is approximately the same as the 1971 figure.