Among cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants, there is not one in Europe
th a t approaches Stockholm; in the U. S. A., on the other hand, there are three
towns that have relatively more telephones, of which cities Los Angeles, in
California, is the first, having 264 telephones per 1 000 inhabitants. The figures
given above are for January 1, 1913; at the close of 1914, Stockholm had
241 telephones per 1 000 inhabitants.
State Telephones.
As we have mentioned above, the State had set up telephone networks,
although in a small scale, as early as in the first half of the eighties.
In 1883 and 1884, the State bought two of the largest systems in
the extreme south of Sweden, and these became the starting-points for
fairly large telephone networks in that part of the country. In order to
support the fishing industry, which at this time began to flourish in
Western Sweden, the State (partly with aid from the local authorities),
erected extensive telephone communications in that part of the country,
too.
It was, however, not till the technical problem of rendering possible
conversations over long distances was solved that the activity of the State
became more vigorous. In 1889, the first more important line of communication,
that between Stockholm and Gothenburg, was1 opened, over
a distance of 500 km, and, as several similar long lines were constructed
by the State, the local networks, too, came into its possession, partly by
purchase, partly by new erections, not only along the chief highways, but
also in more remote parts of the country. These networks, by means of
lines of lesser length, were brought into connection with the trunk lines
between the large centres, and by this means the State telephone net
gradually came into existence.
Tab. 138 gives a general survey of thè development of the State telephone
network from 1890 to 1913, both years inclusive.
As regards the charges paid by private- subscribers for telephone connection,
these, in most places in Sweden, amount to an annual fee of 50 kronor, in
T able 138. Growth o f the State Telephone Network.
Year
No. of
exc
h a n ges
No. of
te le phones
Double
telephone
lines
Em
Single
te le phone
lines
Xm
T o ta l
telephone
line s
(circnit,
n o t wire
len g th )
Em
Téléphoné calls
Recéipts
Er.
Average
subscriptions
’■■V per
apparatus
ag a in st
subscription^
a g a in st
special
fee
1890 126 4 947 4 656 8123 12 779 8 156 856 .128737 440258 87-99
1895 559 22 735 45 079 10 542 55621 47 000 000 1555 638 1936 152 66-38
1900 1077 51998 105 466 6 520 111986 131 261 200 3 065 700» 3 988 553 54-96
1905 1380 81994 161928 4468 166 396 224177 000 6 842100> 7 030 807 48-61
1910 1932 128410 260 546 2 905 263 451 318 008 200 14 228 9001 12 016 695 48-56
1911 1983 137 799 282 780 2 428 285 208 287 954 500 16 200 287 13 261785 48-52
1912 2 064 148 372 294 653 2105 296 758 277 047 500 18 381 940 14 574 354 48-44
1913 2159 159 252 325 439 2 092 327 531 302 182 400 19 826 353 15 586 330 48-65
1 Approximately.
addition to which there is an entrance fee also of 50 kronor, besides a fee for
the use of any specially-desired type of instrument. In some places, however,
the fee is somewhat higher, but there it is usually reduced after 5 years’
subscription. In other places, again, there is in force a system of lower
annual „and entrance fees, but with a restriction in the right to free calls.
In towns and in places possessing a comparatively large number of subscribers,
these fees cover the cost of erection and maintenance of the subscriber’s line
within a certain district, which is usually th e 'd istric t within the town-lijnits, or
else a circular area of two, one, or half a kilometer’s radius around the telephone
exchange; the fee also includes the cost of the exchange service for the subscriber’s
wire. In smaller places, however, the subscribers themselves usually see
to the erection and maintenance of the lines and also pay either themselves
entirely, or with the help of a contribution from the Telegraph Service, the cost
of the exchange-service for their lines. No annual fee is paid for the right to
calls on the connecting lines between the offices • }■ long distance wires — but this
right may be made use of by every subscriber against payment of rates calculated
on the actual length of the lines, i. e., for a distance:
up to luu a m ....................
from 100 > to 250 km .
> 250 » > 600 » .
> 600 » . 800 » .
15 Óre I from 800 km to 1000 km . . 100 Kr.
30 » > 1000 » . 1200 » . . 1-25 >
50 . 1 » 1200 » » 1400 > . . 1-60 »
1400 > » 1600 » . . 1"75 >
> 1600 > and above . . . 2 00 »
These -tolls or fees are for a three minutes’ call. For each new, successive
period of three minutes,-or part thereof, the same fee is paid as for the first
period. Express calls pay double rates, and, on lines where, for ordinary calls, no
fee is paid, 15 ore per period of three minutes. Series calls, i. e., calls which
recur at regular intervals, are charged for as express calls, with an exception for
press series calls, for which the ordinary first fee is paid. N ig h t calls can be
had from 9 p. m. to 7 a. m., against reduced rates, which are V2—3/6 of the
ordinary fees; at certain offices, however, these fees are increased by extra
charges -— so-called night service charges -9 which have to be paid both for
local and long-distance calls. A charge of 25 ore is made for sending a
messenger to call a non-subscriber to a telephone. There is an extra charge of,
usually, 10 ore for calls made from a public call-office.
At present, there exists long-distance telephone communication between places
of any importance in the Kingdom, and a call can be made between any of
the offices which are connected with the network,, i. e., calls can be made
over a distance of more than 2 000 kilometers.
In technical respects, the State telephone network can show quite a wonderful
course of development, both as regards the growth of the network, the exchange
plant, and the construction of the apparatus. The Swedish Telegraph Service
made all its connections — those of -the subscribers’, inclusive — metallic,
as early as from the year 1889, i. e., at an earlier date than in the case of any
other administration. Siuce the beginning of the nineties, the wires of the
subscribers in . every place where there is a large number of subscribers have
been placed underground, in cables lying in cement tubes, a method of construction
first proposed by O. A. Hultman, telephone director in Stockholm,
and which has since been employed, on an ever increasing scale, for almost all
the telephone networks in the world. From the very first, on all the over-head
lines of any length, the wires have been put up according to a system framed
on scientific principles, designed to prevent various kinds of disturbances.
Since 1908, and in accordance with the calculations made by H. Pleijel,
the consultative Professor attached to the Telegraph Service, a large number of
the long-distance and other connective lines have been loaded, i. e., have, by