Soviet Union Information Bureau
ALL forms of public communications, postal, telephone, telegraph and radio, are conducted by the People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs.
MAIL SERVICE.- The mail service has grown far beyond its pre-war limitations and is steadily being extended.
Number of localities with mail service:
| 1913 | 12,335 |
| 1924-25 | 105,159 |
| 1925-26 | 228,722 |
| 1926-27 | 240,980 |
Number of pieces mailed, in hundreds of thousands:
| 1913 | 978 |
| 1924-25 | 844 |
| 1925-26 | 1,095 |
| 1926-27 | 1,234 |
Revenue and expenditure of the postal service, in millions of rubles:
| Revenue | Expenditure | |
| 1924-25 | 96.3 | 96.1 |
| 1925-26 | 136.6 | 133.7 |
| 1926-27 | 155.9 | 160.7 |
Other statistics of mail service follow:
| 1913 | 1923-24 | 1924-25 | 1925-26 | 1926-27 | |
| Post offices, main | 1,399 | 1,005 | 863 | 308 | 267 |
| Branches | 4,085 | 5,810 | 5,072 | 3,481 | 3,045 |
| Railway post offices | 135 | 138 | 138 | 129 | 120 |
| Regular agencies | 2,393 | 3,331 | 4,270 | ||
| Agencies connected with other institutions | 7,125 | 2,957 | 8,465 | 5,737 | 6,000 |
| Traveling agencies | 2,262 | 4,249 | 2,583 | 2,200 | |
| Rural mail-carriers | 6,938 | 16,008 | 17,000 | ||
| Length of mail lines: | |||||
| Railway (Km.) | 58,650 | 73,280 | 75,790 | 78,150 | 78,150 |
| Water | 31,930 | 47,250 | 53,570 | 71,660 | 71,310 |
| Air | 5,840 | 5,000 | 6,520 | 6,850 | |
| Highway | 170,900 | 164,360 | 630,830 | 937,780 | 937,340 |
Telephones: Number of telephone exchanges:
| 1913 | 572 |
| 1923-24 | 2,005 |
| 1924-25 | 2,237 |
| 1925-26 | 2,885 |
| 1926-27 | 3,084 |
Length of telephone lines, in kilometers:
| 1923-24 | 77,291 |
| 1924-25 | 82,067 |
| 1925-26 | 90,268 |
| 1926-27 | 93,308 |
Telephone subscribers at end of year:
| 1913 | 202,006 |
| 1923-24 | 121,275 |
| 1924-25 | 157,366 |
| 1925-26 | 188,697 |
| 1926-27 | 215,266 |
TELEGRAPH.- Length of telegraph lines, in kilometers:
| 1913 | 124,708 |
| 1923-24 | 121,273 |
| 1924-25 | 114,662 |
| 1925-26 | 144,512 |
| 5926-27 | 142,686 |
Radio.- Radio is being used increasingly as a means of communication. Fifty-seven broadcasting stations were in operation in March, 1928. Radio newspapers are broadcasted from Moscow twice daily. Concerts, lectures on scientific and agricultural subjects, and a children's newspaper are features of the radio programs. A small license fee is required for installing receiving sets. Workers' clubs in the cities and village clubs are usually outfitted with receiving set and loud speaker.
Receiving sets in use:
| 1924-25 | 24,945 |
| 1925-26 | 82,872 |
| 1926-27 | 230,000 |
| 1928 (May 1) | 290,000 |
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