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Show I ' .. :. i..' -i: f '?S-- j I - i Long Distance operators in Cedar City during a nor-mal nor-mal business day. There are at present 21 toll pesit'ons available in Cedar City with 12 more to be installed. Lines Busy; Mother Bell Adds Service Ed Oldroyd, Western Electric Installer, working on six new operator positions. a better position to handle the growth and provide more and better service," says Dee Jensen. Jen-sen. Six switchboards will be, completed com-pleted about the end of April, bringing the total operator positions po-sitions to 27. The installation of the remainder of the equipment equip-ment will continue until September Sep-tember 1973. During the next 6 months Mt. Bell will be spending over $400,000 In Cedar City to improve im-prove telephone service in the area, according to W. Dee Jensen, Jen-sen, Manager of Mt. Bell. The expansion will include 12 new operator switchboards, costing $59,000, 1000 new numbers num-bers for Cedar City and additional addi-tional dialing equipment. The installation cost of the equipment equip-ment will be $341,000, requiring requir-ing 2600 work hours to complete com-plete the job. With installation of the .new switchboards, the Traffic Dept. will be in a better position to handle the continued growth of calls placed through an operator. oper-ator. Since 1971, the number of operators employed has increased in-creased from 45 to the present force of 60 people. This is only the average number of people employed. During the heavy tourist season, from May to September, and with the in stallation of the new equipme-the equipme-the force will be increased to approximately 70 employees. The Cedar City Operator Center Cen-ter covers a radius of 150 miles, from Beaver County to the North, to Mesquite, Nevada to the South, and Fredonia, Arizona Ari-zona to the East, encompassing 20 communities. During the month of December, Decem-ber, one of the slower months, 59,253 calls were completed by an operator, an increase of 6 During the same period there were 106,535 completed by direct di-rect distance dialing. With these types of increases in call volume, it is evident that more and better equipment is required to handle the peak months when we have many tourists who come' to Southern Utah to participate in the many activities the area has to offer. "With the addition of this new equipment, we will not be in |