History of Technology

Network

Selected landmarks in

The History of TELECOMMUNICATIONS

A contribution to the Institution's 150th anniversary celebrations in 2021
from the IET History of Technology Network

This is one of a series of timelines which focus on a selection of engineering and technology
landmarks which have occurred during the lifetime of the Institution since its foundation in
1871.
Comments regarding any errors in, or significant additions to, this timeline should be sent to the
History of Technology Network Manager Anne Locker by Email to [email protected]

The establishment of the Society of Telegraph Engineers in 1871 resulted from the growth
and usage of the electric telegraph during the preceding 30 years or so and the resultant
demand for specialist engineering expertise.
See footnote for more information about the pre-1871 telegraph era

Date Event
1870 TO 1879

1871 IET established as the Society of Telegraph Engineers

1873 James Clerk Maxwell publishes his seminal paper Treatise on Electricity
and Magnetism in which he converts the concepts proposed by Michael
Faraday into mathematical form. Maxwells Equations are the
fundamental mathematical basis of electromagnetic wave
communications

1874 Frenchman Jean-Maurice Emile Baudot develops the 5 unit telegraph

code, a digital code in which each letter of the alphabet is represented by
5 bits i.e. 0 or1. Telegraph operators used a 5 key piano like keyboard to
send the codes. The signal length of every letter is the same unlike the
Morse code. The SI (systeme internationale) unit for symbol rate, the
‘Baud’, is named after him

1875 Alexander Graham Bell in Boston, USA constructed his first

experimental telephone using a primitive design of transmitter and
receiver

1876 Bell transmits the first words by telephone to his assistant Thomas
Watson who was located about 100ft away behind closed doors in
another room, “Mr Watson, come here, I want to see you".
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 2

Date Event
1876 Sir William Thompson (later Lord Kelvin) exhibits Bell’s telephone to the
British Association for the Advancement of Science

Bell files for a patent ‘for apparatus for transmitting vocal sounds’. But
soon after Elisha Gray of Western Union based in Chicago who had also
been developing a telephone device, filed a similar patent application
However Bell, and not Gray, was granted the patent. Telephony is
analogue unlike Morse Code telegraphy

1877 The Bell Telephone Company is formed in the USA

In the USA Thomas Edison designs a carbon transmitter for use in

telephones

1878 In order to market his newly patented telephone in the UK market Bell
forms The Telephone Company Ltd.

In the UK David Hughes a professor of music with an interest in electricity,

also designs a carbon microphone. Francis Blake, an officer in the US
Coast Survey, further developed Hughes design and offered it to Bell who
accepted it as superior to Edison's design and his own. The Bell
Companies throughout the world used the Blake-Hughes transmitter in
telephones for some 20 years.

1879 In the UK The Telephone Company Ltd opened Britain's first public
manual telephone exchange at 36 Coleman St, in the City of London.
Later that year two further exchanges opened one at 101 Leadenhall
Street, EC2 another at 3 Palace Chambers, Westminster. Calls between
customers, then known as subscribers, were established manually by
female operators. As manual exchanges grew in number and size it
presented new employment opportunities for women

Prof David Hughes (see 1878) accidentally discovered that with no

physical connection he could receive energy in a telephone in the form of
clicks from a spark generated by an inductance coil up to a considerable
distance. He demonstrated the effect to the Royal Society (RS) who failed
to realise that these findings confirmed Maxwell’s theory (see 1873). If
the RS had realised the significance of David Hughes’ demonstration we
may speculate that today the ‘Hughes’ rather than the ‘Hertz’ could be the
SI unit of frequency?

1880 to 1889

1880 In the UK a High Court judgement decided that a telephone was a

telegraph, and that a telephone conversation was a telegram, within the
meaning of Section 4 of the Telegraph Act, 1869. This meant that to
continue operation the multiple private telephone companies which had
emerged had to obtain a licence from the PMG (Postmaster General)
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 3

Date Event
1881 In the UK the Government authorised the Post Office to offer a public
telephone, in addition to, a public telegraph service. The Post Office
proceeded to convert some telegraph service exchanges to ( manual)
telephone exchanges.

The National Telephone Company was formed in March in the UK to

exploit the market in Scotland, the Midlands and Ireland.

1882 Patents for Central Battery (CB) systems are filed by G.L. Anders in
London. Feeding power to telephones from an exchange, CB working
avoids the need for local batteries at the subscribers premises. CB
prevails until the modern era when electronic terminal equipment, locally
powered, is required for instance for broadband connections to the
Internet.

1885 UK long-distance telephone trials take place between London and

Liverpool. Copper wire had been found more suited for voice
transmission but long distances required thick, and hence heavy,
conductors to minimise attenuation Long routes required wires weighing
up to 800 lb/mile(225kg/km). A 2 wire circuit from London to Glasgow
equated to some 320 tons of copper.

Oliver Heaviside a member of the STE (soon to be renamed the IEE)

proposes that the attenuating effect of cable capacitance could be offset
by adding inductance. Known as ‘loading’ adding inductance extends the
distance telephone signals could travel without significant attenuation thus
improving long-distance communication. (see 1899)

1888 German physicist Heinrich Hertz experimenting under controlled

laboratory conditions transmits and detects electromagnetic (EM) waves
generated by sparks thereby confirming the mathematical theories of
James Clerk Maxwell (see 1873). As a result, EM waves became known
as ‘Hertzien waves’ initially

The Ericisson Company of Sweden combine telephone transmitter and

receiver into one instrument - the first telephone handset

1889 Almon Strowger a funeral director in Kansas City, USA, filed for a US
patent for an electro-mechanical step-by-step automatic telephone
system. His patent was issued in 1891. He had suspected that his local
manual board telephone operator who was married to Strowger’s
competitor was diverting his business to her husband. . The Strowger
system of switching was widely used by many countries for the next 100
years or more

1890 to 1899
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 4

Date Event
1891 In this pre-electronics era various techniques were devised to detect
reception of EM signals generated by sparks. Eduard Branly created one
device – the coherer - consisting of iron filings, carrying a current, in a
small glass tube. When subjected to EM fields the filings would stick
together and the resistance reduced. Marconi later developed an
improved device, the magnetic detector.

The first international telephone service is inaugurated between London

and Paris following the laying of a submarine cable across the English
Channel.

1892 A public automatic telephone exchange based on Strowger’s design is

opened in Indiana USA

1894 During a memorial lecture for Hertz following his untimely death, Prof
Oliver Lodge transmitted and received ‘Hertzien’ waves over a distance of
60m. Although no meaningful intelligence was transmitted the
demonstration indicated the potential of using ‘Hertzian’ waves for
wireless telegraphy

1895 In Russia Aleksandr Popov demonstrates wireless communication using

lightning conductors as transmitting and receiving aerials

The UK Post Office Trunk telephone service opens

1896 Guglielmo Marconi, in Italy developed a keen interest in the potential of

‘Hertzien’ waves following tuition from Prof Augusto Righi in Bologna.
Using a Righi spark gap as a transmitter and a coherer for reception, he
found that improved reception was achieved by earthing and using high
aerials. He also devised a method of ‘unsticking’ i.e., decohering, the iron
filings in coherers by tapping them with a bell mechanism, after each
signal reception.

Marconi moved to the UK the largest potential market for wireless

telegraphy and submitted a patent for …’Improvement in telegraphy and
in apparatus therefore’. His original wireless telegraphy patent

Marconi successfully demonstrates his equipment to Sir William Preece

E-in-C of the Post Office by transmitting between two buildings in the City
of London

A rotary dial is developed in the USA – forerunner of the standard

telephone dial used before the advent of push button telephones

1897 Marconi demonstrates wireless telegraphy 14 miles between Lavernock

Point near Cardiff and Flat Holme, an Island in the Bristol Channel.

Marconi establishes the ‘Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company’ to

manufacture his spark gap transmitters and the coherer/de-coherer
receivers. The company name is later changed to the ‘Marconi Wireless
Telegraph Company’
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 5

Date Event
Eduard Branly is attributed by some sources as the person who first used
the term ‘Radio’ instead of ‘Hertzian’ waves

Marconi visiting Italy successfully communicates with ships 12 miles

offshore using spark transmitters. Ship-to-shore radio is proven practical

1898 Karl Braun inserts inductive coupling in a transmitter separating the aerial
from the spark generator resulting in improved signal transmission
distances. He also develops a crystal detector device.

1899 Michael Pupin adds induction coils (Pupin Coils) to cables at regular
intervals to reduce attenuation in accordance with Heaviside’s theory (see
1885)

Municipalities in the UK are authorised to establish their own telephone

systems. In 2021 only Kingston-Upon-Hull remains of the original
companies so created

1900 to 1909

1900 Prof Reginald Fessenden in the USA recognised the need to generate
continuous waves and an alternative to the coherer detector, if speech
was to be transmitted by ‘Hertzian’ waves. He successfully transmits
telephony a short distance using very high frequency spark generation
(10,000/sec) to simulate a continuous signal which is then modulated by a
microphone in the aerial lead. An electrolytic detector, in place of a
coherer, is used for conversion back to voice

The first CB (see 1882) manual telephone exchange is established in

Bristol

1901 Marconi successfully transmits the letter ‘S’ by Morse code using a spark
transmitter, between Poldhu in Cornwall and Signal Hill Newfoundland –
the first transatlantic wireless transmission. Later that year an Atlantic
telegraph service was established in Crookhaven in Cork in 1901 by
Marconi and later moved to Valentia, in Ireland in 1914.

In the USA Prof Reginald Fessenden patents wireless telephony.

1902 To explain how Marconi was able to transmit EM waves from UK to USA
beyond the optical horizon, UK IEE member Oliver Heaviside and Arthur
Kennelly in USA propose the existence of an ionised layer above earth’s
surface reflecting the signals. Known today as the Kennelly-Heaviside (or
E) layer. In 1926 Edward Appleton identified another layer in the
ionosphere, the Appleton or (F layer), which reflects short wave radio
signals.

1903 In Berlin an International Preliminary Conference on Wireless Technology

is held to discuss the use of the new technology for communicating with
ships at sea
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 6

Date Event
1903 Fessenden transmits telephony over a distance of 20km by using a
modulated arc as a CW (continuous wave) signal source and electrolytic
detector

Marconi establishes a regular wireless telegraph service, mainly for news

media, between Poldhu Cornwall and Cape Cod

1904 John Ambrose Fleming at UCL in the UK, working as consultant for
Marconi, creates the two element thermionic diode valve –so named as it
acted like a water valve with current flow only in one direction making it a
better detector of electromagnetic signals. Fleming's diode was based on
his understanding of the Edison effect. In USA the term ‘tube’ was used
instead of valve. Some regard this as the birth of the electronics era?

1906 In Berlin a follow-up conference to the 1903 event is held but using the
new name International Radiotelegraphic Conference. The expression
‘Radio’ in place of ‘Wireless’. Radio probably derived from ‘radiation’

1906 Lee de Forest in the USA adds a third element to Fleming’s valve (see
1904) creating the triode. Triodes and diodes enable designs of electronic
amplifiers and oscillators to be created.

On Christmas Eve (24 December) 1906, Reginald Fessenden transmitted

the first human voice over the radio from Brant Rock, Massachusetts to
ships in the Atlantic owned by the United Fruit Company, for whom he
worked.

1907 Marconi establishes a public wireless telegraph service between Ireland

Canada and the USA. For transatlantic voice wireless service see 1919

1909 Braun and Marconi awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for their development
of wireless telegraphy

1910 to 1919

1910 US Signal Corps Major George Squier develops the Carrier multiplexing
technique when successfully transmitting 2 simultaneous voice signals
over a single private telephone circuit. US operator AT&T developed a
commercial carrier system between 1914-1918

1912 First UK Strowger electro-mechanical step-by-step automatic exchange

opens in Epsom, Surrey. Eventually a UK network of automatic telephone
exchanges will be established forming a circuit switched PSTN (Public
Switched Telephone Network)

The UK Post Office takes over all private telephone networks except
those of the municipalities creating a monopoly. The monopoly will survive
until the early 1980s when competition is re-introduced. Private telegraph
networks had been taken over by the Post Office in 1870
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 7

Date Event
1913-14 Marconi Company engineer and wireless pioneer H.J. Round patented a
number of ideas for radio valve improvements including that of an
indirectly heated cathode.

1914 Submarine telephone cable laid between Dover and Dunkirk in France

Multiple different designs of electro-mechanical switching systems

developed and manufactured in the USA, Europe and elsewhere. The
Lorimer design built by the Canadian Machine Telephone Co is installed
in Hereford and the Western Electric Rotary design in Darlington. Other
designs are also installed and evaluated by the Post Office (see 1922)

1915 Submarine telegraph cable laid between UK and Russia

During the summer of 1915, former Marconi engineers led by C.E. Prince
successfully demonstrated the first air-to-ground voice communication
using an aircraft radio telephony transmitter.

1916 Amplifiers (see 1906) are developed and used experimentally for the first
time at Liverpool on cables between London and Belfast and London and
Dublin

1917 An ex-army hut is erected at Writtle, near Chelmsford Essex and used by
the Marconi company to develop voice radio for aircraft (see 1922).

1919 On 19 March Marconi makes an East-West voice wireless call between

Ireland and Canada.

1920 to 1929

1920 Following WW1 thermionic valve technology had advanced to the stage
where spark transmitters were obsolescent.

Experimental entertainment broadcasting from the ex-Army at Writtle,

(see 1917) by Marconi engineer Peter Eckersley commencing in
February proved popular with those who could receive the signals using
crystal sets. The transmitter operating at 700m wavelength with an
approx. power of 200watts, had a call sign 2MT. The circuitry was similar
to that designed by Eckersley in 1920 for use at Croydon aerodrome.
However the PMG (Postmaster General) bans further broadcasting later
that year due to interference concerns

In the USA commercial stations commenced broadcasting

1922 The UK Post Office standardises on the Strowger step-by-step system.

Extremely durable Strowger systems lasted until the mid-1990s

By 1922 amplifiers for cable systems were routinely installed in buildings

known as repeater stations to improve transmission performance..
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 8

Date Event
After petitions from the Wireless Society of London the PMG rescinded
the ban on broadcasting (see 1920) and in May a transmitter,2LO
transmitting on 350m at 100watts began broadcasting from Marconi
House in the Strand, London This transmitter is on view at the London
Science Museum. Clearly demand existed for a broadcasting service

The BBC (British Broadcasting Company, renamed a Corporation in 1927,

was established in October at a meeting at the IEE Savoy Place between
Marconi company, General Electric, British Thompson-Houston, Radio
Corporation Ltd, Metropolitan Vickers and Western Electric. BBC
broadcasts commence in November using 2LO.
Peter Eckersley becomes BBC Chief Engineer

1923 BBC moves it’s studios to the IEE buildings in Savoy Hill

Vladimir Zworykin at Westinghouse Electric USA develops an electronic

camera tube for TV usage, but images lack definition and are low contrast
see 1933

1925 John Logiie Baird gives what is widely regarded as the first public
demonstration of a part mechanical television system at Selfridges,
London. He uses spinning discs containing a spiral of holes for both
scanning and display to create an image of an illuminated ventriloquist’s
dummy.

1926 Rugby Radio Station is established providing a 16kHz high power

transmitter using water cooled valves generating a worldwide signal. The
huge induction coil from this equipment is on display at the London
Science Museum. A second 60kHz transmitter is also established for a
radio telephony service to the USA

Edward Appleton at Cambridge identifies the existence of another ionised

layer (see 1902) which also reflects radio signals but of shorter
wavelength. Named the Appleton (or F) layer Appleton was awarded the
1947 Nobel Prize in Physics

In Japan Kenjiro Takaanagi gives a PRIVATE demonstration, at a school,

of an electronic TV system using a cathode ray tube. However he does
not patent it

The first 'true' demonstration of television by John Logie Baird took place
at Baird’s laboratories at 22 Frith Street, Soho, on 26 January 1926.

1927 In larger cities customer (subscriber) growth necessitates a requirement

to introduce a translation technique to allow direct dialling. Known as
Director working, electro-mechanical relays convert dialled numbers into
routeing codes.

A public radio telephone service commences between London and New

York
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 9

Date Event
A time signal generated by the Royal Observatory Greenwich for mariners
is transmitted worldwide by Rugby radio Station

1928 In San Francisco, USA Philo Farnsworth gives what is regarded as the
first PUBLIC demonstration, to the press, of a fully electronic TV system
(see 1925/1926)

In the UK John Logie Baird demonstrates colour TV using his system (see
1925)

Creeds No 3 teleprinter is adopted as standard UK telegraph machine

1930 to 1939

1931 Microwave radio point to point relay system trials are conducted between
Dover and Calais. Their success shows that the frequency band 1000-
10000MHz has potential for providing communication facilities.- see 1949
and 1952.

Voice frequency telegraph systems allow direct dialling between telegraph

zone centres. This service will be replaced by the Telex service – see
1958.

Vladimir Zworykin, a Russian immigrant to the United States, working at

Westinghouse Laboratories in Pittsburgh, developed a prototype
iconoscope, the first electronic television camera.

1932 Anti-sidetone induction coils are introduce in telephone circuits

In the UK EMI (Electrical and Music Industries) develop the Emitron which
will be at the heart of early BBC TV cameras (see 1936)

UHF (ultra high frequency) radio systems operating in the 300 -3000MHz
frequency band are introduced. An early system Is used across the Bristol
Channel. Later e.g. in 1937 UHF systems are used for links across the
Irish sea

1933 Polyethelene (Polythene) was discovered which had a low dielectric

constant making it a suitable cable insulation material, particularly for
submarine cables. Gutta Percha, the solidified sap from a tree, had been
used previously.

In USA RCA (Radio Corporation of America) acquire Zworykin’s patent

and produce the iconoscope. It has much greater light sensitivity (see
1923)

1934 Negative feedback technique is discovered by H. S. Black in the USA. It

will greatly improve performance of telephone repeaters
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 10

Date Event
1935 12 channel carrier system trials, in the range 12-60kHz, were conducted
in the UK between Bristol and Plymouth. On de-loaded multi-conductor
cable. Later developments allowed for 24 channel operation which
became the norm for the long distance telephony network prior to co-axial
cable system usage ( see 1938)

1936 BBC commence broadcasting TV using, on alternative weeks, the Baird

system and the EMI electronic design. The EMI system clearly gave
superior pictures and became the initial standard adopted in the UK (see
1925 & 1932)

EMI design a method for transmitting 405 line TV over screened pairs.
The technique will be used to broadcast the coronation of George VI in
1937.

1937 Alex Reeves at STC (Standard Telephones and Cables) invents Pulse
Code Modulation (PCM) . PCM will become the fundamental building
block of digital transmission but cannot be realised physically or
economically until solid state electronic technology becomes available

1938 Co-axial cable systems were introduced. In the UK and many other
countries. A coaxial cable system was established between London and
Birmingham, and in 1940 extended to Manchester, with 4 co-axial tubes
of 0.45in (1.14cm) diameter. One pair used FDM (see below) in the range
50-2100kHz to provide telephony. The other pair provided a 1.6MHz
bandwidth TV channel. Coaxial cables became the standard for long
distance circuits alongside microwave radio relay links

1938 FDM (frequency division multiplexing) standards which enable increased

numbers of voice circuits to be transmitted per cable are published by the
ITU (International telecommunications Union)

1940 to 1949

1945 Arthur C Clarke publishes an article in Wireless World magazine

proposing a network of man-made satellites be placed in geostationary
orbit which could act as extra terrestrial radio relay stations providing
worldwide coverage - see 1965

1946 Erlangs, named after Agner Erlang who established the definition, are
introduced as the international unit of telephone traffic measurement.

Cabinets and pillars are introduced for local network distribution in the UK

1947 John Bardeen and Walter Bratten, members of team led by William
Shockley at Bell labs USA, create the first transistor- birth of solid state
electronics
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 11

Date Event
Cellular radio concepts for telephones in vehicles are developed in the
USA by Douglas Ring and Rae Young at Bell Labs. They define the
structure which achieves economies by reuse of frequencies and
handover techniques as the vehicle moved geographically. between cells
It will become the basis of all worldwide mobile telephone networks

1948 Claude Shannon, at Bell Labs USA, is regarded as the founder of

information theory. Shannon publishes a paper, ‘A Mathematical Theory
of Communication’ building on the work of Harry Nyquist.. Shannon’s
theories establish the required conditions for a discrete sequence
of samples to capture all the available information in a continuous time
signal of finite bandwidth.

1949 A microwave radio relay link operating at 900MHz is established between

London and the BBC TV transmitter at Sutton Coldfield.

1950 to 1959

1951 4MHz coaxial cable systems are standardised in the UK. Using FDM in
the range 60 -4092kHz these systems have capacity for 16 supergroups
(960 voice channels) or one 405 line TV channel with 6 mile repeater
spacing .

Charles Hard Townes publishes concept of the MASER (microwave

amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) see 1956

1952 An analogue microwave radio relay link is established between

Manchester and Kirk O’ Shotts near Edinburgh. Operating in the 4GHz
band it provides TV service

1953 In the UK cable pressurisation is introduced in the trunk and junction

network to improve waterproofing

1956 TAT 1, the first transatlantic telephone cable, is completed. Linking Oban
Scotland to Clarenville Newfoundland, then onwards to Sidney Mines
Nova Scotia. The Atlantic coaxial cable section used 2 cables with highly
reliable thermionic valves in submarine repeaters. Providing 36 FDM high
quality voice channels between Europe, USA and Canada telephone
traffic surges

A MASER is built by Nicolaas Bloember at Harvard University. MASERS

when suitably cooled, provided low noise signal amplification at Satellite
Earth stations

1957 USSR launch the world’s first artificial satellite Sputnik. It highlights the
opportunities of this technology for satellite telecommunications

1958 UK introduces STD (Subscriber Trunk Dialling) whereby customers could

dial their own long distance calls directly without operator intervention.
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 12

Date Event
SCORE (Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment) satellite,
the first to relay voice signals, is launched by the USA. SCORE
broadcast a taped message from the US President Eisenhower saying
“peace on earth and goodwill toward men everywhere”

A dedicated automatic switched network for teleprinters called TELEX is

introduced in the UK. Previously teleprinters signals were routed over the
PSTN by modulating a 1.5kHz tone

1959 Radiophone manual services launch in the UK in South Lancashire. The

service will launch in London in 1965

To meet increased traffic demand on TAT 1 (see 1956) audio channel

spacing is reduced to increase the number of circuits available to the
public

TAT 2, of similar design to TAT 1, is established between France and

Newfoundland

1960 to 1969

1960 US launch ECHO – a passive reflecting satellite for communications

TASI (Time Assignment Speech Interpolation) is introduced to further

increase capacity on TAT 1 (see 1956 and 1959). TASI enables idle
circuit time during pauses in conversations to be allocated to other users

The LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)

providing coherent light is developed. This stimulates research into its use
for optical telecommunications – see 1966

1960 Radio paging systems launched in the UK

1961 12 MHz co-axial cable systems are introduced in the UK with 3 mile
(4.8km) repeater spacing on long distance routes. Operating in FDM in
the range 312 – 12388kHz these systems provide 2700 voice channels

1962 TELSTAR an active low orbit satellite enables live TV between Europe
and USA

A trial electronic digital telephone exchange system is opened at Highgate

Wood, North London. Using TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) and PAM
(Pulse Amplitude Modulation). PAM proves problematic so PCM (see
1937) used for later trials

1964 Successful development of the technology paves the way for a

geostationary satellite network. With 11 countries support, the Intelsat
Agreement was signed on 20 August 20, 1964. Arthur Clarke’s idea is a
step nearer (see 1945)
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 13

Date Event
1965 The first Intelsat satellite, Early Bird (later re-named Intelsat 1) is
launched. Early Bird was the first operational commercial satellite to
provide regular telecommunications and broadcasting services between
USA and Europe

In the UK microwave radio relay systems form a national long distance

network complementing trunk cables. Used to transport both analogue TV
and telephony they operate in the SHF (super high frequency) 4GHz and
6GHz bands and have repeaters typically spaced 30 miles apart. In
London and Birmingham special radio towers are built. The BT Tower, an
iconic landmark in London (originally the Post Office Tower), for a short
period is the tallest building in the UK.

In the USA the 1ESS (Number One Electronic Switching System) a stored
programme controlled (SPC) circuit switch manufactured by Western
Electric first enters service in Succasunna, New Jersey.

1966 Charles Kao and George Hockham of STL (Standard Telephones

Laboratories) publish a paper in IEE Proceedings proposing glass fibres
as waveguides for optical communications providing glass losses can be
reduced to 20dB/km or less

Semi-electronic telephone exchange systems are developed allowing

computer control and storage. Two such types introduced in the UK are
the Plessey 5005 Crossbar (TXK) and the Reed Relay type (TXE) . TXE2
is used for small exchanges and TXE4 for large. These systems reduced
further Strowger exchange growth

PCM digital line systems (see 1937) are trialled in the UK. based on the
USA 24 channel capacity model. They provide short haul systems for use
on junction routes with de-loaded cables. However the European 30
channel PCM standard will be adopted eventually for the UK (see 1976)

1967 Plans for a network interconnecting ARPA ( Advanced Research Projects

Agency) Network sites in the USA (an ARPANET) are published. A wide
area network using mini-computers equipped with IMPs (Interface
Message Processors) to interface with the physical transmission network.
IMPs are forerunners of routers.

1968 Donald Davies at the UK NPL (National Physical Labs) proposed Packet
Switching for more efficient transmission of data. In the USA Paul Baran
proposed a similar idea at about the same time. Packet Switching became
key for the Internet.

Due to problems found during the trial of TDM-PAM (see 1962) a new trial
electronic stored programme control switching system using TDM-PCM
commences at Empress exchange near Earls Court London. A second
TDM-PCM trial is conducted at Moorgate exchange in the City of London
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 14

Date Event
1969 ARPANET a packet switched network (see 1967 and 1968) is established
which will lead eventually to the foundation of the Internet ARPANET
uses a Network Control Program (NCP) which is replaced by TCP in
1983

Decade 1970 to 1979

1970 Corning Glassworks in the USA announce they had developed glass with
losses below the target 20dB/km level required for practical Optical Fibre
systems (see 1966)

A millimetric circular terrestrial waveguide system, which can provide

large capacities for trunk networks, is demonstrated in the UK. By the
mid-1970s plans are in place for deployment of such systems in the UK
trunk network. (see 1978)

ISTD (International subscriber trunk dialling) allows UK subscribers to dial

USA numbers direct. The service is progressively extended to most other
countries.

1971 Plans for a UK Packet Switched network for data transmission are
proposed

1973 Motorola becomes the first company to develop a handheld, as opposed

to within vehicle, mobile telephone for use in the cellular network (see
1947)

1974 The architecture of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) which will allow
different computer networks to interoperate is published in the USA by
Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn. TCP will later be split into two parts in 1988 –a
slimmed down TCP part and a routing part IP (Internet Protocol) see
1978. TCP/IP will become the key enabler of the public Internet.

1976 The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) publishes a

recommended standard for Packet Switched Networks called X25 aimed
primarily at wide area networks. X75 for the interconnecting links-is also
published

30 channel PCM trials are conducted in the UK. 30 channel PCM with a
transmission rate of 2048Mbit/s was favoured by Europe whereas 24
channel was North American The UK decided to standardise on the
European 30 channel rate of 2048Mbit/s which will become the base for
the digital transmission network based on PDH (Plesiochronous Digital
Hierarchy) of 2, 8, 34, 140 and 565Mbit/s. This marked a move away from
telephony analogue technology to a system more suited for a variety of
services including data, voice or video.

UK’s last manual telephone exchange Portree Isle of Sky is closed

In the USA the 1AESS SPC circuit switched telephone exchange system,
an upgrade of the 1ESS with a faster 1A processor ( see 1965), enters
service
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 15

Date Event
1977 Field trials of prototype Optical Fibre systems are carried out in the UK,
USA and other countries Their success will mean major changes to the
future planning and provision policy for cable networks worldwide. (see
1978)

An EPSS (Experimental Packet Switching System) is established in the

UK between London – Manchester- Glasgow (see 1971)

ITT (International Telephone and Telegraph) in USA develop computer

controlled digital telephone switching equipment, System 12. Manufacture
is carried out by ITT subsidiaries mainly in Europe where it sells well (see
1982).

1978 In the UK following the successful 1977 trials digital Optical Fibre systems
are set to become the basis of future trunk and, to a lesser extent,
junction networks in preference rather than co-axial cable, microwave
radio links or any planned millimetric trunk waveguide. For the local
network however, until Internet usage dominates domestic demand for
broadband data and video services in the 21st century, there is no
economic case for fibre to the premises (FTTP)

TCP is split into two protocols. A slimmed down TCP would manage data
flow control and error correction while a separate Internet Protocol (IP)
would deal with the routing of packets across the networks

1979 Japan becomes the first country to introduce a cellular mobile telephone
service. An analogue system based on AMPS (advanced mobile phone
system)

INMARSAT – an organisation for maritime satellite communications is

formed

1980 to 1989

1980 First commercially manufactured UK Optical Fibre (OF) link goes into full
time service between Brownhills and Walsall in the West Midlands. The
first phase of OF systems use the 850nm band and graded index fibre.
Later systems use the lower loss 1300nm or 1500nm bands and
singlemode (monomode) fibre as designs and components become
available.

Trials of submarine optical fibre cable in Loch Fyne Scotland

Pilot version of UK’s standard digital computer stored programme

controlled automatic electronic telephone exchange, System X (code
TXD) opens as a tandem at Baynard House London

USA launches a cellular mobile telephone service using AMPS see 1979
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 16

Date Event
UK’s largest co-axial cable system completed – a 60MHz route between
London and Birmingham the cable has 18 tubes each pair capable of
carrying 10800 voice channels in FDM in the range 4404 – 59580kHz. No
further systems of this type are deployed due to the shift to optical fibre
provision.

1981 System X Local Exchange goes into service at Woodbridge Suffolk

In the UK Post Office telecommunications monopoly is ended and

competition re-introduced (see 1912). Most countries follow similar paths

1982 First ITT System 12 digital computer controlled switching system is

installed in Brecht, Belgium. Although reasonably successful in the
Europe and Mexico when adapted for the US market System 12 is
ultimately unsuccessful. .

1983 ARPANET changes from using its original Network Control Program (see
1969 ) to TCP working. It also splits into 2 parts one for military and one for
civilian use. The civilian part will go on to form the public Internet.

Trials of an Integrated Digital Services Network (ISDN) commence in the

UK. ISDN provides facilities, particularly for business customer, for the
transmission of voice, data or video

1984 Motorola launched the DynaTAC, the first hand-held phone that could
connect over Bell’s AMPS. It weighed over a kilogram and was
affectionately known as The Brick, but it quickly became a must-have
accessory for wealthy financiers and entrepreneurs.

1985 Cellular mobile telephone services launches in the UK by Racal Vodafone

and Cellnet (a joint venture between BT and Securicor). This first
generation system (1G) was analogue and used a modified AMPS version
called TACS (Total Access Communication System). The forecast of user
numbers expected within the first 10 years was exceeded within 7 months
of launch

WDM (wavelength division multiplexing), an optical form of FDM (see

1938 ) increases per optical fibre capacity by simultaneously transmitting
light of more than one wavelength and is widely used. Variants include
DWDM (Dense WDM) and CWDM (Coarse WDM)

1986 AXE10 a Swedish design computer controlled telephone exchange

equipment is introduced into the UK network to complement System X

EDFA (Erbium-doped fibre amplification) is developed by Southampton

University. Other forms of fibre amplification include Raman amplifiers
based on Raman scattering and Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers Optical
amplification is simpler and more reliable than digital regeneration and
allows for greater repeater spacing this reducing costs.
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 17

Date Event
1987 GSM (in French ‘Groupe Speciale Mobile’ in English Global Systems for
Mobiles) is a technical committee established by CEPT (Council for
European Posts and Telecommunications). to standardise next
generation mobile phone services (2G) to allow roaming. GSM standards
are Intended for use across Europe but they are eventually adopted
internationally. Unlike analogue 1G, GSM is a digital TDMA (Time Division
Multiple Access) system using the Integrated Services Digital Network.
(ISDN). GSM provides both voice and text SMS (short message system)

1988 A specification for ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is published

in the USA. ADSL adds a wideband channel above the voice band for
data download and a narrower bandwidth channel for data upload. It
becomes a means of enabling operators to provide broadband computing
capacity to customers over existing copper telephone lines

TAT 8 the first transatlantic optical fibre submarine cable is complete.

Running between Tuckerton New Jersey USA and via Penmarch, France
to Widemouth Cornwall UK.

1989 Tim Berners-Lee at CERN (in French – Conseil European pour la

Recherche Nuclear) writes a paper titled ‘Information Management: a
proposal’ for information exchanges between CERN sites. It will
eventually form the basis of the public World Wide Web. (WWW)

ATM (Asynchronous Transmission Mode) is specified by the ITU

(International Telecommunications Union) using a combination of circuit
and packet switching for the transmission of voice, data and/or video in
Wide Area Networks and the ISDN (see 1983). Although adopted in
Europe in the USA Frame Relay is developed. (see 1990). ATM is now
largely superseded by IP (see 1978)

Decade 1990 to 1999

1990 BT Long Distance network becomes 100% digital

The USA commences digital in place of analogue TV broadcasting. Other

countries follow. This will eventually lead to innovations like Smart TVs

Frame Relay, a slimmed down version of X25 (see 1976) is adopted in

the USA in preference to ATM (see 1989) for WANs. Like ATM, Frame
Relay is now largely superseded by IP (see1978)

1992 Civilian part of ARPANET becomes free from US Government control –

this is the birth of the public Internet

2G cellular mobile services based on GSM launch in the UK (see 1987).

Later evolution of 2G incorporates a packet switched standard GPRS
(general packet radio services ).Users are able to browse the web from
their mobile.
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 18

Date Event
SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) is progressively introduced into
transmission networks in place of PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy).
SDH creates a synchronous multiplexed signal transmitted on optical
fibre, radio relay links, satellite links, and at electrical interfaces between
equipment. The advantage over PDH is that SDH greatly simplifies the
network. SDH was originally defined by ETSI ( European
Telecommunications Standards Institute) and later adopted by the ITU as
a world standard. However in the USA and Canada a similar system
called SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) is used

1996 TAT12 and TAT13 enter service and are the first transatlantic submarine
optical fibre cables to use optical amplifiers rather than digital
regenerators (see 1985)

2000 to 2009

2000 3G (third generation) mobile radio services arrive using UMTS (Universal
Mobile Telecommunication System) standards. Mobile devices become
less for making voice calls and more about using UMTS high speed data
capability for viewing video, sharing files, playing games or surfing the
web

2003 Luxemburg company Skype launches software enabling VoIP (Voice over
Internet Protocol) calls over the Internet. VoIP will impact the PSTN (see
2018)

2007 The iPhone is launched in the USA by Steve Jobs of Apple. Revolutionary
in design it eliminated the physical keyboard and replaced it with a
touchscreen alternative. This enabled larger screen displays. The
Smartphone was born and the original mobile telephone had now evolved
into a hand held on-line computing device.

2009 Charles Kao is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on optical
fibres.

2010 to 1019

2012 4G (Fourth Generation) mobile radio technology is launched in the UK

ushering in the era of the Smartphone.

2013 Zoom, a company founded in 2011 in California USA launches software

enabling videoconferencing facilities. During the 2020 pandemic Zoom
usage explodes

2017 In the USA 1AESS SPC exchanges (see 1965 and 1974) are
progressively taken out of service as telephony moves from the PSTN to
the Internet VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) facility.

2018 New Zealand, Germany, France, Netherlands and Switzerland are well
advanced in programmes to close their PSTN and move customers onto
VoIP telephony.
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 19

Date Event
2019 UK Regulator Ofcom issues a policy statement that UK PSTN (circuit
switched) networks will be closing and customers moved to VoIP for
delivery of telephone services. Openreach (part of BT ) announces a
target date for UK PSTN closure of end 2025. Once PSTN shut down is
fully implemented Openreach aims to de-commission equipment then
close and vacate 80% of PSTN exchange buildings from 2030 onwards.

2020 to 2021

2020 Research into improving optical fibre performance includes consideration

of Hollow Core Fibre (HCF). Solid glass fibre cores reduce light speed
compared with a vacuum due to interaction with the core material. The
delay this causes is minute but with ever increasing demands for high
speed data and lower losses, fibre improvements are continually sought.
Replacing the solid core with a vacuum is currently impractical, but an air
core offers similar benefits. However HCF presents significant challenges
yet to be overcome. .

Roll out of 5G (Fifth Generation) mobile technology commences. Based

on ITU specifications 5G is a step-change up from 4G. It addresses the
increasing demands of new applications such as supporting IoT (Internet
of Things). 5G will run 100 times faster than 4G with minimal latency. With
smaller cells geographic connection densities will be greater than any
previous mobile generations.

FOOTNOTE
The coming of the electric telegraph revolutionised human communications. This footnote
can only provide a very brief summary of those events. For those seeking more detailed
information Ken Beauchamp’s book The History of Telegraphy (see Bibliography) is
recommended.
Proposals made as far back as 1753 suggested electrostatic telegraphs. In an issue of the
Scot’s Magazine that year an anonymous writer, using initials C.M., suggested 26 insulated
wires connecting terminals, one wire for each letter of the alphabet, selectively conducting
static electricity from Leyden Jars under control of a sender. At the receive end these could
be arranged to move one of 26 pieces of paper, each having a different letter of the
alphabet. The CM. system was never built but in 1816 Francis Ronalds demonstrated a
working model of an alternative electrostatic telegraph at Hammersmith, UK. This used just
one wire. Static generated from a friction disc at the sending end could move pith balls at the
receiving end. Movement of the pith balls indicated to the receiver that a signal had been
sent. Each appropriate letter would be identified by a complicated synchronised clock
arrangement at each end. But range was limited and did not represent a commercially viable
system. Parts of Ronalds’ Hammersmith equipment are on display at the London Science
Museum
The first successful system was designed by Cooke and Wheatstone in 1937 in the UK and
demonstrated along the railway between Euston and Camden Town. An analogue device it
used 5 needles at the receiving end which deflected when current was received on
combinations along 5 wires connecting to the sending end. Although limited to just 20 of the
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 20

26 letters of the alphabet it was nevertheless used by the railways, initially between
Paddington and West Drayton.
In the USA Samuel Morse developed a digital electric telegraph using his famous code
system whereby combinations of short and long electric pulses represented letters of the
alphabet. Morse’s system was first demonstrated in 1846 using a pair of wires mounted on
‘telegraph’ poles, 40 miles linking Washington and Baltimore. The simpler digital system
using Morse Code was gradually adopted worldwide and is still in places in use today.
Initially deployed to support the growing railway networks telegraph systems were
increasingly made available to the public. Telegraphs, or telegrams as they became known,
provided the primary means of urgent communications for many people even until the 1940s
before home telephones became more widely available in most countries.
As networks grew nationally attention moved to usage for international telegraphy. In 1850, a
25 mile cable, with gutta percha as insulation, was laid between England and France but
unfortunately soon damaged by trawlers. A second attempt in 1851 was more successful
and many relatively short submarine routes were established in Europe. But the big
challenges were intercontinental telegraph cables, in particular between the Europe and
America - an oceanic distance of some 2000 miles between Ireland and Newfoundland.
To make the attempt a company, the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph was
formed by Cyrus Field, an American businessman. After overcoming huge challenges with
the terrain the land section New York to Newfoundland was completed but laying the
transoceanic section to Ireland resulted in several initial failures. Eventually in 1858 a cable
link was completed and Queen Victoria exchanged messages with US President Buchanan.
Unfortunately, the cable failed after a few weeks and, delayed due to the American Civil war,
it was not until 1866 that a second more successful cable was laid and brought into service.
The impact of the telegraph on international communications was enormous. Conveying
messages which had previously taken weeks was now almost instantaneous and
international telegraph cables eventually circled the world.
Initially telegraph messages required skilled operators to send and receive them. Automation
and system improvements naturally followed. In 1874 Jean-Maurice Baudot introduced his 5
unit code (see timeline). New Zealander Donald Murray developed the Baudot system in
1901 by using a typewriter with a QWERTY keyboard to produce a perforated paper tape,
which was then fed into a tape transmitter. At the receiving end a printer mechanism could
print onto another paper tape – the ‘Ticker Tape’ so popular with stock markets. Many
others contributed developments with a variety of printing telegraphs. Teleprinters, using
standard QWERTY keyboards, simplified the sending and receiving of messages.Telex
networks exploited the advantages of teleprinters as .
The electric telegraph provided, for the first time in history, near instant national and
international communication with the authority of the written word. Sometimes regarded as
obsolete it is interesting that today telegraphy, in the form of text messaging on mobile
phones or Emails, remains so popular. .

FURTHER INFORMATION

WEBSITES

Visit the Science Museum website

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/communication
For the detailed history of UK telecommunications see BT website
Selected landmarks in the history of TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Page 21

https://www.bt.com/about/bt/our-history/history-of-telecommunications
JOURNALS
The Story of Transatlantic Communications : Proceedings of IET Seminar to celebrate 150th
anniversary of the first telegraph cable, Museum of Science and Industry, ,Manchester, 28th
October 2008
175 Years of UK Telecommunications Journal of the Institute of Telecommunications
Professionals, Vol 6, Part 4, 2012. Papers presented at an IET/ITP seminar
1906-1981 75th Anniversary Edition, The Post Office Electrical Engineers Journal, Vol 74
Part 3 October 1981. A wide ranging review of 75 years of UK telecommunications
A Mathematical Theory of Communications by Claude Shannon, Bell Systems Technical
Journal 27, (July/August) 1948

BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Copies of most of the following are available from the IET Library )
Beauchamp, K., History of Telegraphy- its technology and Applications, IET History of
Technology Series No 26, London, 2001
Bray., W.J. The Communications Revolution: The Telecommunications Pioneers from Morse
to the Information Superhighway Springer Science + Business Media LLC 1995
Burns, R.W. Television – an International History of the Formative Years IET History of
Technology Series No 22, London, 1997
Burns, R John Logie Baird, Television Pioneer, IET History of Technology Series No 28,
London 2000
Burns, R., Communications : an International History of the Formative Years, IET History of
Technology Series No 32, London, 2004
Bussey, G Wireless: The Crucial Decade 1924-1934 , IET History of Technology Series
No13, London, 1990
Garrat, G.R.M The Early History of Radio, IET History of Technology Series No 20, London,
1994
Gordon, J.S., A Thread Across the Ocean – the story of the first transatlantic telegraph
cables, Walker and Company, New York, 2002
Huurdman, A.A., The Worldwide History of Telecommunications, Wiley and Sons, New
Jersey, 2003
Phillips, V.J., Radio Wave Detectors, IET History of Technology Series No 2 London
Povey and Earl Vintage Telephones IET History of Technology Series No 9, London
Wheen, A., DOT-DASH to DOTCOM : How Modern Telecommunications Evolved from the
Telegraph to the Internet, Springer-Praxis, Chichester UK,, 2011
Wood, J The History of International Broadcasting Vol 1, IET History of Technology Series
No 19, London 1994
Wood, J The History of International Broadcasting Vol 2, IET History of Technology Series
No 23, London,2000
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