450
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 16

“Private-line circuit” is a circuit provided and maintained by the Department, usually within town limits, for and on behalf of a person, company, or corporation, and used for some purpose other than that of a private telephone-line.

“Private telephone-line” is a line used for telephonic or other approved means of communication, and as a general rule adapted for being linked up with the Department’s telephone system as provided by these regulations, but not provided, erected, or maintained by the Department.

PART I.—TELEPHONE EXCHANGE SERVICE.

Applications and Conditions of Service.

2. All telephone services furnished by the Department shall be subject to the conditions of the regulations set forth hereunder, or any amendments or extensions thereof.

3. Applications for telephone-exchange service shall be made on the forms supplied for that purpose. Any application made on behalf of a partnership or a company shall be signed by one of the partners or by an authorized officer of the company respectively.

4. A service connection fee of £1 shall be payable in respect of all new or additional connections (main stations), except that such fee is not payable in the case of the temporary connections provided for in Regulation 47. The service connection fee shall be an initial charge only, and shall be payable at the time of application for service.

5. Telephone service at the annual or monthly rates specified in these regulations shall be for such minimum period as the Department may determine at the time of application, and shall be continued thereafter until the subscriber gives notice in writing that the service is to be discontinued or until the Department discontinues the service.

6. The Secretary may, either before or after the acceptance of a telephone contract, and before or after the installation of a telephone connection, demand security, in such form and amount as he thinks necessary, for the payment of any telephone charges, and failing compliance with his demand may cancel the contract and cause the premises to be disconnected from the telephone exchange with which they are connected, and any telephone instruments and apparatus to be removed.

7. The Minister may, at his discretion,—
   (a) Refuse to comply with an application for connection with any telephone-exchange system, or for the transfer of any existing telephone service, or for the construction of any telephone-line.
   (b) Refuse to comply with an application for a telephone connection with an exchange other than the one situated nearest to the premises referred to in the form of application.
   (c) Disconnect a subscriber’s telephone from one exchange and connect it with another exchange should he consider such action desirable.
   (d) Discontinue giving service at any exchange having less than twenty-five paying subscribers’ main stations.

8. Except in cases in which the preservation of human life or the protection of public property may be involved, or as otherwise provided in these regulations, telephone-exchange lines shall be used only by the subscriber, his family, guests, or employees, and exclusively on his affairs. Any breach of this regulation shall render the subscriber liable to have his telephone disconnected without prejudice to the right of the Minister to recover the rental and [or] other charges due under these regulations.

Rating System.

9. The system of rating for individual, two-, three-, and four-party line service shall consist of classifying the exchanges according to the number of subscribers’ stations connected therewith, and the hours of attendance allotted; defining for each exchange or network an area—known as the base-rate area—within which telephone service will be furnished, on a flat-rate basis; and fixing for each class of exchange a schedule of rates covering an unlimited number of local calls.

10. For the purpose of these regulations exchanges or networks shall be classified in one or other of the following classes:—
    Class I.—Exchanges or networks observing continuous attendance and having more than 3,500 paying subscribers’ main stations connected therewith.
    Class II.—Exchanges or networks observing continuous attendance and having 1,001 to 3,500 paying subscribers’ main stations connected therewith.
    Class III.—Exchanges or networks observing continuous attendance and having 201 to 1,000 paying subscribers’ main stations connected therewith.
    Class IV.—Exchanges or networks where the attendance is restricted.

11. When the number of paying subscribers’ main stations connected with any exchange or network reaches 10 per cent. above the maximum or falls 10 per cent. below the minimum of the class in which the exchange is classified, the exchange shall be transferred to the next higher or lower class, as the case may be, and shall be subject to the base-rate area and the rates applicable to such class from the date of commencement of the next half-yearly rental period.

12. Any exchange in Class IV granted continuous attendance under the provisions of Regulation 56 shall be automatically transferred to Class III, and shall be subject to the rates and service applicable to that class from the date on which the continuous attendance commences.

Base-rate Areas.

13. (1) The base-rate area in respect of any of the exchanges in Classes I and II shall not exceed 28 square miles and 20 square miles respectively, and shall comprise the area defined and [or] delineated on plans from time to time deposited at the relative telephone exchanges.

(2) At Classes III and IV exchanges the base-rate area shall not exceed 13 square miles, and the boundary shall in each case, unless otherwise defined, be two miles distant by pole-line route measurement from the telephone exchange.