German Empire 185 



2. Rates for suburban connections. Suburban subscribers 

 pay the local rate for connection to their local exchange, and com- 

 munication within their own suburb or group of suburbs (each 

 large town has two or more groups in its vicinity, particulars of 

 which are given in the local lists) ; but in order to communicate 

 with the town, or with other suburbs not scheduled as being within 

 their own group, they must pay an additional annual subscription of 

 5/., or 3</. or $d. per three minutes' talk. These charges are equally 

 due by town subscribers who wish suburban communication. 

 Any person paying the extra 5/. annual charge is not only entitled 

 to call any subscriber on the list, but also to be rung up freely by 

 everybody, whether they also pay the extra rate or not. The three- 

 minute rate depends on the distance of the suburban group from 

 the town. For instance, the charge is 3^. between Berlin and 

 Group I., which comprises Charlottenburg, Rixdorf, Friedenau, 

 Pankow, Rummelsburg, Schoneberg, Weissensee, and Westend, 

 none of them very far away ; and 5^. between Berlin and Group 

 II., or between Groups I. and II. The latter includes Potsdam, 

 Spandau, Kopenick, and some twenty other places comprised with- 

 in a radius of fifteen or sixteen miles. In the case of Leipzig there 

 are three so-called suburban groups, the most distant comprising 

 Chemnitz, 48 miles away. $d. per three minutes, or 5/. per annum, is 

 the uniform rate. Under such a rule at home, Brighton would be 

 considered a suburb of London and brought within the scope of 

 an extra 5/. annual payment. The arrangements at Frankfort-on 

 Main are equally liberal, the $d. per three minutes, or 5/. per annum, 

 covering Mayence (20 miles), Rudesheim (33 miles), Hanau, 

 Homburg, and many other towns. 



3. Rates for long-distance internal trunk communication. 

 These are simplicity itself. For distances up to about thirty 

 kilometers (the practice varies somewhat in different districts, and 

 is sometimes modified by the inclusion of towns nearly fifty miles 

 distant in suburban groups) the charge per three minutes is $d. ; 

 for all other distances, is. Express talks are allowed at triple 

 rate. No talk may exceed three minutes if others are waiting to 

 use the line. If a communication asked for cannot be got 

 through from some cause beyond the control of the Administration, 

 the caller is charged a unit fee. 



