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Show Midland Ends Time Limits On Local Calls The Midland Telephone Company has discontinued the automatic time shutoff on their party lines system sys-tem vhich for over a decade de-cade has limited telephone-calls telephone-calls to from 3- to 8 minutes. min-utes. The shutoff system was instigated some 10 years ago, during the peak of the '50's uranium boom. At that time the telephone company, equipped to handle 100 calls a day, vas suddenly pushed to an overcapacity of 1500. Calls were put through on a waiting list basis; a 4-party 4-party business service and 10 party line outside the city limits was the best they could offer. As a means of stretching stretch-ing the overloaded service, the cutoff system was installed, in-stalled, then on a 3 to 5 minute limit. A buzzer warned the telephone users use-rs their time had about lapsed, then the cutoff automatically shut off the call, and opened he circuit cir-cuit to another user. As soon as their facilities facili-ties were increased to handle the telephone load in Moab, Midland eliminated eliminat-ed the cutoff system. However, so many protests pro-tests from users were made, it was installed a-gain. a-gain. People liked the time saving cutoff system. Recently several calls have been received at the Midland offices protesting the cutoff system, most from newcomers to Moab . who believed something was wrong with their lines. ISIince t!he Moab office of the company now completes com-pletes with no undue pressure pres-sure an average of 90,000 local and toll calls each week, 86,000 of which are local calls, the cutoff was again abandoned. Again,' however, protests are being be-ing sounded. Wallace Corbin, vice president of the company, said they planned to put the issue to a public vote to determine whether or not to re-install the 8- minute buzzer system. As far as the' telephone company com-pany is concerned, they prefer not to have it. The buzzer increases the number num-ber of local calls, since people cutoff in the middle mid-dle of a conversation often of-ten call back. However, if the public prefers the cutoff system it will be reinstalled. A questionaire will be mailed mail-ed to the subscribers for or against the cutoff feature on local calls. The buzzer system has never effected long-distance calls Mr. Corbin adds that the company offers this feature fea-ture at no otiher southern south-ern exchanges, and they manage fine without it. A cutoff feature is not par ticularly an accepted practice prac-tice of telephone companies com-panies in the United States, but is used in smaller towns where the public wants it. |