COMMUNICATIONS: No Time for Silence

Determined to keep postwar man in constant touch, the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. last week announced that it is ready to manufacture a new two-way, auto-to-anywhere radiotelephone for U.S. motorists. When it goes on sale, six months to a year after manpower and materials are available, this formidable device will connect the driver through a radiotelephone like a walkie-talkie. The call will then be passed on to any local or longdistance number. Calls from cars traveling along a highway will be picked up by different stations, as the car passes from one zone to another (see cut). Car to car conversations will also be possible.

Each car will have a dashboard phone with its own call number, said A.T. & T. When someone is calling, the phone will indicate an audible or visual signal. All the driver need do to make a call is push a button on his phone set and give the number. A 15-watt transmitter in the mobile unit and the special radio exchange will do the rest.

A.T. & T. has already applied to the Federal Communications Commission for authority to install radiotelephone stations in 13 big U.S. cities. What the cost of the service will be, the company did not say.