telecommunications

PNG has a first in ultra-modern telecommunications

By Ken Mcgregor

Four years ago, against specific advice from a developed neighbouring country, Papua New Guinea ordered the first com puterised telex switching exchange in the Southern Hemisphere.

The system, called Eltex li, was install ed at Lae and went into public service on May 11, 1974. Built by Frederick Elec tronics Corporation of Maryland, USA, the 720-terminal system today is one of the best success stories of communications in the Islands.

With advanced microwave systems in Fiji, from other American and Japanese suppliers, earth stations in Fiji, Nauru and New Caledonia and an order for a second Islands computerised telex exchange for Papeete, the Lae punt has paid off.

Frederick’s Australian agents, Datamatic Pty Ltd, of Sydney, who super vised installation of the Lae exchange and has since supplied key enhancements, told PIM the expansion capability for up to 4,000 terminations remained available at Lae.

Mr R.E.J. Rawlings, managing director and a major shareholder in Datamatic, said the exchange handled all PNG overseas and domestic telex traffic. Of the 720 terminals. 300 were dedicated to telex subscribers, 87 to telegraph office services, 24 for international trunks, 16 for service channels and 293 terminals were “spare”.

Lae’s exchange is perhaps among the most sophisticated of advanced com munications making an impact on the Islands at present, which will link up isolated areas with big towns and principal islands, improve shipping and enhance business and government links dramatical ly.

The UK Government offshoots, Cable and Wireless and Crown Agents, are also heavily involved in Islands’ undersea cables, the satellite earth stations in Fiji and Nauru, secondment of key Posts and Telegraphs personnel and telex links from Vila to the outside world, not forgetting a variety of procurement consignments on behalf of Islands’ governments.

The Lae computerised telex exchange, meantime, after over two years of service today is a typical, if on the sophisticated side, example of modern communications

equipment changing Islands com

munications.

11 is no surprise, then, that French Polynesia early this year ordered the Islands’ second Frederick Eltex II ex change, for Papeete, with 120 terminals.

Behind this order was the real decision maker Paris-based French Posts and Telegraphs Department and delivery is set for next year. It was the 60th Eltex 11 com puterised exchange ordered in the world and Frederick claims to be the global equipment leader of this type of system.

On opening PNG’s Frederick exchange, the Minister for Communications, in 1974, Mr Daibelt Diria, said the system was con trolled by powerful, inbuilt mini computers, from Digital Equipment Cor poration.

The Eltex II enables automatic telex calls to be made to or be received from anywhere within PNG and 25 other coun tries in Europe, North and Central America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific at any time of day or night.

Among the features of the exchange are automatic advice of call duration, multi address (broadcast) calls, multi line hun ting groups and automatic re-try. Ad ditional features include magnetic tape call logging, alternate routing and the capabili ty for fully automatic distortion testing on all lines and trunks.

Contact is made after a waiting time of only about 20 seconds and the new ex change signals the teleprinter caller whether his message went through or not and how much time his message took to send.

Mr Diria claimed that Eltex II would save the PNG public time and money in two ways: Firstly, a mailgram service was set up to enable subscribers to send telexes to in dividuals without their own teleprinters.

Secondly, individuals without teleprinters

can go to the P&T telegraph office and have a telex sent to a private telex sub scriber.

To oversee installation of the Lae ex change, Datamatic put a senior systems engineer, Stephen Mullerley, into Lae fulltime.

Datamatic has since supplied a Versatex high speed printer for the Lae exchange and developed three new systems for the exchange traffic analysis, building and statistical information.