Fault records Subscribers' fault control and main cable distribution frame behind.
been granted permission by the Govern- scriptions be fixed on a dollar basis. At ment of Hong Kong to establish a tele- the same time, the question of a new phone exchange in the Colony and there licence for an extended period was taken were also other interests who were up. Current rates were the equivalent in "operating without right". Furthermore, the currency of the Colony of Ten Pounds in its first year, the local Government Sterling per annum for an exchange line obliged the Company to remove its poles within а radius of one mile from an from the streets. As this was before the exchange with an additional two pounds development of underground cable, it was ten shillings per mile beyond the first mile. necessary to erect house-top fixtures and this seriously interfered with the service.
It is recorded that, in the year 1882, there were thirty subscribers but, in con- sequence of all the difficulties experienced, the business was closed down and was not re-opened until January, 1887. By the end of that year, there were fifty sub-
scribers.
The first formal licence granted by the Government to the China & Japan Tele- phone Company Limited was dated Ist November, 1886. It gave the Company the right to open a telephone exchange in the City of Victoria and to erect poles in the public streets, but only where house-top fixtures could not be used.
In 1899, the Company purchased ex- change premises in Kowloon and in Duddell Street, Hong Kong and, at the same time, submarine cables were leased from the Great Northern & Eastern Ex- tension Telegraph Company for the con- nection of subscribers' lines on the main land with the Hong Kong Exchange.
No agreement was reached with Govern- ment and negotiations went on for some years. It was not until the year 1924 that negotiations ended when Government agreed that the undertaking should be transferred from the China & Japan Telephone Company to a local Company, Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited. The transfer was made in 1925 when Hong Kong Telephone Company Ltd. was registered in accordance with provisions of the Telephone Ordinance No. 9 of 1925.
the
The new local Company adopted a pro- gressive policy and plans were soon in progress for radical changes. By 1939, all the manual exchanges had been scrap- ped and replaced by automatic exchanges of the latest design capable of handling bers' lines had been placed underground about 13,000 lines. Almost all subscri-
and, in co-operation with the Chinese Telecommunications Administration, an between Hong Kong and Canton. underground trunk cable had been laid
Hong Kong's first telephonic link with the outside world was in 1937 when His Excellency the Governor, Sir Andrew Caldecott, spoke to Mr. Wu Teh-chen,
Upon the introduction of electric trams in Hong Kong about the year 1901, the telephone system experienced serious in- terference and it became necessary for the Company to adopt metallic circuits the Mayor of Shanghai, by radio telephone via Canton. Since then, in co-operation in lieu of the single wire and earth return
with Cable & Wireless Limited, the ser- system in current use. At about the same time, plans were prepared for the vice has been extended considerably and installation of underground cables and consideration was given to the installation of more up-to-date multiple switchboards. Before the reconstruction of the system, negotiations with Government resulted in a new licence.
free
The
This new licence agreement was for a period of 25
years from 1st February, 1905. It covered the Colony of Hong Kong and its Dependencies and the New Section of equipment which keeps auto- Territories. It provided, amongst other matic equipment under constant check.
things, that the Company would, as far was formed for the purpose of developing
as it could be reasonably effected, place the telephone patents of Alexander Graham the bulk of its lines underground. Bell and Thomas Edison. Its patent
agreement also provided that the Com- rights covered territories extending from pany should instal and maintain 30 ex- the Mediterranean and
of charge, for the throughout the change lines, East to the Hawaiian Islands in Pacific. For the purpose of developing the telephone throughout China and Japan, the Oriental Telephone & Electric Company transferred its rights to the China & Japan Telephone Company Limit- ed, which was registered in London in 1883. This Company developed the Colony's telephone system from its early years and up to 1925 in which year Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited was formed.
the
Government.
as
The Company now entered upon a slow
evidenced by the following figures: but steady period of development
Date
31st December, 1910 31st December, 1915 31st December, 1920 31st December, 1925
Total Telephone
Stations
1,569
3,360
6,113
9.023
At first, the system grew slowly, being
About the year 1917, the Company be- hampered by competition. The Great gan approaches to Government for a ге- Northern Telegraph Company had also vision of rates and proposed that sub-
is now available to world.
most parts of the
The Hong Kong Telephone system is one of the few systems in the world today operating on a "flat rate" basis. Current rates are HK$300,00 per annum for a Direct Exchange line connected to any of the Company's main exchanges ΟΙ HK$225.00 per annum for residential service. Unlimited number of calls may be made from any such telephone without extra charge. These rates compare favour- ably with the rates of 50 years ago, and they are possibly the lowest in the world.
Architects: Messrs. Palmer & Turner
General Contractors: Sang Wing Const
Co.
Piling: Vibro Piling Co., Ltd.
Electrical Installation & Fittings: British
General Electric Co., Ltd.
Plumbing & Sanitary Installation: Tung
On Plumbing Co., Ltd.
"Schindler" Lifts: Jardine Engineering
Corp., Ltd.
"Crittall" Steel Windows:
Co., Ltd.
Dodwell &
Steel Roller Shutters: Blair & Co., Ltd "Schlage" Hardware: Shewan, Tomes &
Co., Ltd.
Fire Service Installations: Shun Yick &
Co.
71
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