PROBLEMS OF TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS

General AKIN. To complete the statement, the other problem is to get telephone communication out of Juneau-that is one of our division headquarters-through Skagway up into the Alcan system, for two purposes: One, to communicate from Fairbanks and Anchorage, and the other to communicate through the commercial telephone system for the people from the United States with the United States so that we have circuits as follows: From Skagway to Whitehorse, we have two metallic circuits, and they are rented from the railroad and not from the Alcan system. So we do with those circuits what we do to most of the other circuits-we put multiple channels on them. So out of those two metallic circuits we have three voice and six telegraph channels. From Whitehorse into Fairbanks, we have two teletype circuits and one voice circuit.

That gives us the intercommunication.

And from Juneau they can talk direct through this system into Edmonton and connect with the United States.

INSTALLATION OF RADIO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

You recall last year we asked for $280,000 in the budget, and you gave it to us, to install a cable so as to provide increased service between Juneau and Skagway. We found that cable had not yet been developed by commercial concerns to be suitable for our use. The distance involved required the use of repeaters. So, when we looked into it, we found it was not yet available commercially, but there was available commercially what is known as the v. h. f. radio communication system. That shows this little piece in the center [indicating`]. That is the hop-over distance.

So we decided to use that money to install a very-high-frequency radio-communication system between the two places, and we can do that with the same amount, we believe. It will give us a greater number of channels than if we had gotten this cable. It will be more economical all the way round and will give us a great deal more for our money.

Mr. ENGEL. What about the radio reception?

General AKIN. That does not interfere with what is called the VHF very high radio frequencies. Ordinarily, the high frequency radio communication is interfered with over there, but when you get into line-of-sight communication, you do not get the same interference from the aurora borealis or magnetic storms that you get with the high frequency, but with the very high frequency or superhigh frequency, that is not very much of a concern. So that we are relatively safe in installing it.

TIE-IN WITH PRIVATELY OWNED LINES

Mr. ENGEL. As I recall it, your system as it was described last year consisted, first, of the Army or Government-owned lines. General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. ENGEL. Then you had some lines owned by local citizens, or systems owned by local citizens.

General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. ENGEL. Which you tied into.

General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. ENGEL. What is the situation regarding those? Do you still have the local lines to tie into?

General AKIN. Yes, sir; we have at various places, and each locality has its own wire system for distribution within that locality. This gives you some three hundred and sixty-odd commercial stations [indicating]. Each one of these dots indicates a station with which we connect with our stations shown in Alaska. That traffic is put on our channels, and we pick it up and carry it to the States and to all parts of Alaska.

Mr. ENGEL. In other words, there are feeder lines that come into your lines, which you do not operate?

General AKIN. That is right.

Mr. ENGEL. But which feed into your lines, and the traffic comes down over your lines to the States and elsewhere; is that right? General AKIN. Yes, sir; that is exactly right.

COMMUNICATIONS OVER LINES ALONG ALCAN HIGHWAY

Mr. TIBBOTT. Referring to the previous chart, how long have the lines of communication been established?

General AKIN. Along the Alcan Highway?

Mr. TIBBOTT. That is right.

General AKIN. I think that it was coincident with the construction of the Alcan Highway that the system was built there, and I believe the history of that is that we sold the telephone lines in Canada to the Canadian Government.

Mr. TIBBOTT. How much of an increase has been made in these communications since the close of the war?

General AKIN. Under this system?

Mr. TIBBOTT. Yes.

General AKIN. I do not know, but the pole line was built there and the circuits put on, and probably the only increases added are the ones we have added. And I have in this budget an item to put in two wire circuits at mile 33 for airport purposes. But our system is essentially as built when the Alcan Highway was built.

Colonel LAWTON. That is correct.

Mr. TIBBOTT. The chart would indicate there are a greater number of communications between certain points.

General AKIN. White Horse?

Mr. TIBBOTT. At White Horse. What is the reason for the increased number at this location?

General AKIN. This chart does not give you the correct picture. It does not indicate the actual wires on the pole lines; it merely indicates the circuits. As you well know, you can get a multiplicity of circuits out of a small number of wires. So the chart here merely shows what we have rented over that system. It does not show the actual wire lines on the poles at all.

RENTAL OF SERVICE FROM CANADIAN GOVERNMENT

Mr. SCRIVNER. You just made the statement "which we have rented." Rented from whom or to whom?

General AKIN. We rent from the Canadian Government. Our rental starts here [indicating Alaska-Canadian boundary] and goes

across to Edmonton. It starts at the border and goes across to White Horse and down to the border here [indicating]. That is what we pay for to the Canadian Government.

Mr. SCRIVNER. Is that reflected in this break-down?

General AKIN. It is reflected right here, and we have a statement covering that.

Mr. SCRIVNER. As a matter of fact, until you mentioned that, I had assumed we still owned these lines constructed along the Alcan Highway.

General AKIN. We do not own the lines.

Mr. SCRIVNER. I understand from your statement now that those lines, after they were constructed, were sold to the Canadian Govern

ment.

General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCRIVNER. And now, in turn, we rent service over those lines from the Canadian Government?

General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCRIVNER. So, as far as the United States is concerned, we have no maintenance problem over those lines between the two borders?

General AKIN. They have to maintain the lines from here [indicating].

Mr. SCRIVNER. You made another reference to the fact you had anticipated putting in a cable from Juneau to Skagway. General AKIN. Yes, sir.

INSTALLATION OF RADIO COMMUNICATIONS IN THE FUTURE

Mr. SCRIVNER. But, instead of putting in the cable, you decided on putting in VHF. In view of that, are we to assume with the development of the high-frequency radio that future installations may be in the nature of the VHF or even higher?

General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCRIVNER. Instead of either the cable or pole lines?

General AKIN. Very definitely, sir. Not only there, but we plan to use that, and I have in this requested appropriation $100,000 to put in a VHF system between Whittier and Anchorage. With this system, you can telephone and telegraph. A commercial company has put in a VHF system connecting Boston and New York. They go extensively into that. They consider there is a possible over-all economy, too. Right now my understanding from Dr. Buckley at the Bell Laboratories is that they are comparing the merits of the coaxial-cable communication with that of the VHF communication between places. There is an extensive development of communication by means of VHF.

Mr. SCRIVNER. Will that be true, particularly where you have extremes of temperature?

General AKIN. It will be quite beneficial to us. It is a tremendous job to keep open the wires in the winter months, and we have a difficult time, which is an Alaskan Railroad problem, to maintain that pole line. They just do not have the personnel to maintain it.

Mr. SCRIVNER. In view of the extremes in climatic conditions that you find in Alaska, do you anticipate your very-high-frequency installations will overcome many of the problems of maintenance, repair, and service presented by cables and pole lines?

General AKIN. Yes, sir. We view that as one of the systems we are going to have to use extensively there for many circuits.

INCREASE IN COSTS AND INCOME SINCE THE WAR

Mr. KERR. What would you say about the amount of work necessary for you to do now compared with that which was done before the war and the postwar communication cost as compared with what it cost before the war? Do you have any data on that?

General AKIN. I think we can show that. I have not any data on the actual cost.

Mr. KERR. You have the comparative cost and income since you have had charge of it?

General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. KERR. I think you said the total cost of this communication set-up by our Government in Alaska was $7,648,875, and the total income is about $4,850,000.

General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. KERR. That is why I wanted to know how much business you did before the war compared with what you are doing now.

General AKIN. I think we can give you a comparative statement. This [indicating] is the monthly value of the traffic starting back in 1936, and that represents thousands of dollars. Back in 1936, we ran a monthly average, probably, of about $45,000.

Mr. KERR. That is referring to the income?
General AKIN. That is the money we collected.
Mr. ENGEL. That is the actual cash receipts?
General AKIN. Yes, sir; that is exactly right.

Now, we get over to 1937. You get these traffic peaks in the summer months, and you drop off in the winter months, and then you come right up again. Starting back in 1936, we ran about $45,000; whereas, when we get up to 1942, we ran $126,000. Then we dropped off again. Then you find here [indicating] that your monthly average would be running a little less than $90,000 in 1947, and we think in 1949 that monthly average will run a little over $100,000, which would give us an estimated revenue for that year of $1,375,000, which I mentioned before. That is 12 times the monthly

average.

Mr. KERR. And that is included in the total income of $4,850,000? General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. KERR. How much have you really spent on this development since the war, if anything?

General AKIN. The total sum we have spent?

Mr. KERR. Yes.

(The information requested is as follows:)

The estimated obligations from all sources are as follows: Fiscal year

1946.

1947.

1948

$5, 300, 000

3, 000, 000 6, 000, 000 (No

The fiscal year 1948 includes $2,406,264 for construction of buildings. buildings were constructed in the fiscal year 1947.) It also includes $280,000 for submarine cable, increase in personnel, and the operation of the cable barge Lenoir.

Mr. KERR. What percentage of increase of your communication facilities had been augmented since the war?

Colonel LAWTON. I think maybe the number of stations which we operate would give that. We had about 46 stations during the war; now we have 42.

Mr. KERR. So there is a decrease in the number of stations operated?

Colonel LAWTON. There is just four stations difference.

Mr. KERR. Since a great deal of this expense is incident to the construction of the lines and facilities for transportation, is not that a very costly feature of it?

General AKIN. It is a very costly feature; yes, sir. It is costly to get the equipment over there, and it is costly for labor for installation in that area-considerably more expensive than in the States. And the transportation costs are very expensive in Alaska and to Alaska.

INCREASE IN POPULATION OF ALASKA

Mr. KERR. You say the estimated population now in Alaska is about 90,000 people?

General AKIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. KERR. Has that population increased since the war?
General AKIN. I think it has.

Colonel LAWTON. The population of Anchorage has gone up to about 8,000; whereas, prior to the war, there were only about 4,000. Mr. KERR. Then you can safely say the population has probably increased as much as 20 percent?

General AKIN. Very likely. The figure I have indicates that before the war there were some 50,000 whites there; now you have 60,000 whites. So probably there may have been a 10,000 increase, as best we can determine.

Mr. KERR. The communications you are responsible for are communications not only for the benefit of the Government and the business of the Government, but it embraces the whole commercial work, too, of the country?

General AKIN. Yes, sir. Because of the civilian development there, we handle communications out of the area, except in the local stations that the agency might operate itself-these 360 stations I mentioned. So the most of them are privately owned and operated telegraph and radio stations that feed into our system, and we handle the long lines, and the business comes from the civilian business there-canneries, fur business, and items of that kind.

Mr. KERR. And you are integrating the radio communication system with the new types you have discovered since the war?

General AKIN. Yes, sir. We have to keep modern where it is economical to keep modern.

To illustrate, we have two types of radio transmission. One is manual, by a key, and the other is by the radio teletype system. On the circuits on which we have had the great volume of traffic, we have installed radioteletype communication, eliminating the manual circuits from there and relegating them to circuits on which it was more economical to have a manual operator by virtue of the small volume of traffic.

Mr. KERR. Increasing the radio telegraph and telephone costs more than the old system?

General AKIN. Yes, sir. The radio teletype system is a more expensive system than the manual. You have more equipment, and it is a more complicated operation.