The Sauk Centre herald., 1930-03-13
U.S.. HAS COZ OF
PHONES in WORLD
EDver 1S,O00,0OO Phones in
This Country Out of a
Total Of 3O,OOO,OOO
Universal in America
Marked Feature Is Facilities
of the Small Villages and
Rural Communities

Out of a total of 30,99O,3O4 tele-
phones in the entire world, the
United States possesses 1882, ,767,
or approximately 60 per cent. Eu-
rope, has S,623,407 telephones,
which is less than one-half the
number in the United States and
about % per cent of the worlds
total. The remaining II per cent
of telephones are distributed wide
ly throughout the rest of the world.
During the last year total number
of telephones increased by 1881
734. OF this increase about one
half resulted from the net number
of telephones added during the
year in the United States alone.
These figures have been taken
from a recently published compi
lation of telephone statistics of
the world.
SiXty-nine per cent of the tele-
phones in the world are under pri-
vate ownership. The United States
where all telephone service is op-
Grated by private companies, is the
leading country of the world not
only in absolute number of tele-
phones, but in telephone develop
ment as well, with 1873 telephones
for each 100 people. This is nearly
ten times as many per 100 popula-
tion as there are in Europe, or in
the world as whole. The only
country which was close to the
United States in point of telephone
density was Canada with 1872 tele-
phones per 100 of it's inhabitants.
New Zealand came third with TO-,
followed by Denmark with 9.3,
Sweden with TT, and Australia with
72 telephones per 100 population. In
Canada 80 per cent and in Den
mark Sc per cent, of the telephones
are under private ownership and
operation.
Germany ranks second to the
United States in absolute number
of telephones, but nevertheless has
only A telephones per 100 popula-
ton. In Great Britain and France
the number of telephones in rela-
ton to population is even smaller
than in Germany. From the stand
point of telephone facilities, the
the best developed country in
South America is Argentina, which
has % telephones per 100 popula-
tion-a density equal to that of
France. Japan leads the Asiatic
countries in telephone density, but
has only IL telephones per 100
people.
America is outstanding in the
extent to which telephone facilities
have been provided for the small
towns and rural districts. The
United States has 1872 telephones
per 100 inhabitants in communities
of less than $4,000 population, which
is greater than the total density of
any other country with the single
exception of Canada. In fact, the
people in smaller communities OF
this country are more fully provid-
ed with telephones than are the in
habitants of most of the large cit
les of Europe.
Despite this wide diffusion OF
telephone facilities in the United
States, the superiority of American
over foreign cities in extent of
telephone service is striking. The
number of telephones in the larger
American cities is more nearly
commensurate with the total num-
ber of telephones in foreign coun-
tries than it is with the individual
cities abroad. New York City, for
instance, has nearly as many tele-
phones as Germany. Chicago has
more telephones than all of France.
Eleven representative American cit
les of more than 100000 population
have an average development of
26.7 telephones per 100 population,
while only four large German cit
les have more than 10, and most o.
the Britain cities less than 5 tele-
phones per 100 population.
Not only has the United States
more telephones than all the rest
of the world, but Americans use
the telephone to a greater extent
than do people of other countries.
There were 224.7 telephone conver-
sations per capita in this country
in 1927, while Canada with 21.5 was
the only other country with over
200 telephone conversations per
capita. Scandinavian countries
ranked highest in the use of tele-
phones among European nations,
but Denmark, which reported the
greatest use, had only 1868 CONVEX
sations per capita. Among the
leading European powers, Germany
reported but 35.5 conversations per
capita as compared with 28.6 and
17.2 for Great Britain and France,
respectively. Thus, Americans
make six times more use of their
telephones system than do the
Germans, almost eight times more
than the British and thirteen times
more than the French.