Smyrna times., 1945-12-27
TELEPHONE co.
TO EXPAND
Diamond S ate Telephone
Company to Spend S5,5OO,-
900 on Expansion Program
NEW EQUIPMENT

The Diamond State Telephone
Company plans to spend S5,5OO,o00
on a comprehensive postwar ex-
pansion program and work already
is under way, Philip c. Staples,
president of the company, an
nounced today. Primary and i'm
mediate objective of the vast pro-
gram is to provide telephone SER
vice as quickly as possible for the
4,700 persons in Delaware who are
on waiting lists" Mr.. Staples
said. The program also provides
for improving the quality of the
service and introduction of new
and amazing. developments in COM
munications which have been pion-
eered by the Bell Telephone Labor
atories. The construction program
not only includes virtually all cities
and towns in Delaware, but rural
duQ ldIIll dIedS DIS Wtii.
Calls Are Increasing
There is unprecedented activity
throughout Delaware" Mr.. Staples
said. Contrary to the expecta-
tions of some people, the number
of telephone calls made daily since
the end of the war has shown a
steady increase, establishing new
peaks. The demand for new tele-
phone installations has been tre-
mendous. Nearly everybody, it
seems, wants telephone service.
Today, the volume of toll and long
distance calls is approximately 20
percent greater than year ago
and stands at the highest point in
the history of the industry. Local
calls have skyrocketed.
2,2OO Names Added
In the last six months, as more
and more telephones and related
facilities have arrived fom Western
Electric manufacturing plants, he
said, the company has been able to
remove $500 applications for SER
vice from the tops of its waiting
lists. This represents considerably
more than half of the names that
were on the waiting lists at the
peak period, last June. However,
in this same six months, 2,20O new
names have been added to the tele-
phone company's waiting lists. The
net result is that the lists have
been reduced by only 1,1OO names.
Telephone instruments now are
coming from production lines at
the rate of about 100000 year
for the Bell System. Because of
this volume, it may be possible for
the company later in the year to
make residence extension tele-
phones available, as extensions are
connected to equipment already in
place and do not require additional
central office facilities, outside
cable or wire.
Need New Equipment
Mr.. Staples said that 18 of the
company's 80 central offices in Del
aware are operating at capacity
and cannot meet new demands for
service until additional equipment
becomes available. Manpower is
an important factor in completing
the various phases of the program,
as virtually all telephone construc-
ton, installation and maintenance
work requires specialized skills
and technically trained men. More
than 100 Delaware telephone men
were in the Armed Forces and
practically all of those who are re-
leased from the services are re-
turning to their jobs in the tele-
phone business. Continuing high
volumes of telephone calls mean
that many additional girls and
women are needed to operate
switchboards and to handle the in
creased work of other departments.
Better Rural Service
Over and beyond present require
ments and future growth, Mr.
Staples stated that the $5,500,00O
program is designed ultimately to
provide among other things: faster
long distance service with oper-
ators dialing calls direct from their
switchboards to telephones all oveI
the country; telephone service to
and from moving vehicles; ano
more and better rural telephone
service. The program of the Dia.
mond State Company is part of the
two billion dollar expansion pro.
gram, recently announced by the
Bell System. This means new
and huge investments in the tele-
phone industry" Mr.. Staples said
'sThis money will come from mer
and women in every walk of life
whose savings must be safeguard