asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs when it is proposed to instal automatic telephone exchanges in County Mayo.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Mayo Automatic Exchanges.
88.
It is likely that conversion of a number of manual exchanges in County Mayo to automatic service will be provided for in the next general conversion programme.
There are already two small automatic exchanges in County Mayo but before automatic service can be provided in the county generally a number of preliminary projects will have to be undertaken. These will include the provision of an underground coaxiai cable extending over 100 miles from Ballina to Athlone via Castlebar, Claremorris and a number of other important towns in order to provide adequate circuiting for working under automatic conditions. This work will probably be completed by the end of 1969.
The provision of an automanual exchange will be required at Castlebar at which subscribers connected to automatic exchanges will be answered for calls required via operator. Plans for this are well advanced but it is unlikely that the Castlebar exchange building will be completed before 1970. The conversion of other exchanges in the county must await the completion of the work at Castlebar.