Work is underway on large-scale improvements to this city's somewhat battered telephone system, CNT Commercial Supervisor Gordon T. Durkin told a Whitehorse Board of Trade executive meeting last Thursday many changes were in the offing, including new cable, equipment and a new building.
He commented CNT had found itself with a "very broken down system" that did not show its troubles until spring when it bought Yukon Telephone Company.
CNT had not been able to do much here during the winter but, as soon as the weather moderated, men had been put to work outdoors in the city.
Mr. Durkin said a new building would go up on the site of the Yukon Telephone Company's former headquarters. The old bunkhouse at the rear would be torn down to make way for the new structure which will house more modern equipment. In addition, new cable has been ordered and is now on its way to the city.
The new equipment will come from a Newfoundland community which has outgrown it. It is expected to be in service here "by this time next year."
Admitting the present system is severely outdated, Mr. Durkin told board members CNT hoped to be able to give every person a private line who wanted one and to limit party lines to no more than four telephones - with the exception of isolated instances.
Landline Staking
His company had also started staking the proposed Dawson- Mayo-Whitehorse landline. They were ready to go ahead with construction as soon as the project was approved by treasury board at Ottawa.
Meanwhile, in the city, men were at work upgrading "drops" into customer's homes.
For subscribers on the hill, dial phones would be installed after the first of the year. Equipment is now on order for this purpose.
The repeater at McRae is to be moved into the CNT area near the top of Two Mile Hill within a few weeks, Mr. Durkin said. This would help consolidate the local operation, Twenty-four hour service would be available at the new site.
The Edmonton communications man said a complete tariff revision was forthcoming which would put Yukon telephone on an equitable basis with systems outside. The revision would be based on standard practices common in the rest of Canada and would be subject to board of transport's commissioner's approval.
In answer to a complaint from
Nick Gritzuk, the CNT supervisor said the line from Mayo to Elsa and Calumet would be upgraded. Mr. Gritzuk had complained the line was frequently unserviceable and that much of it was just lying on the ground.
Local Poles
Mr. Durkin said he believed locally treated poles would be considered for use should the Dawson project be taken off the drawing boards and set into motion. “We want to do business with those doing business with us," he commented.
Erik Nielsen pointed out that holdup in approval of the north landline had been because the scheme was lumped-in with communication projects for Northwest Territories. He had been able to have it separated in the estimates from the NWT plans and anticipated it would be approved on its own by treasury board.
More Authority
With regard to a question asked by Don MacWilliam suggesting local management should have more authority, Mr. Durkin said CNT officials had been looking into the problem. He foresaw the possibility of a manager to be nominally in charge of all telephone activities within a reasonable area of the city.
Looking over the current situation Mr. Durkin said, "We've got quite a mess to clean up." But, he predicted, "within two weeks there shouldn't be a single back order in the city."
