Telecommunications - The Technology For Change - A Web History
This web history of telecoms is intended to bring you up to speed with the world of telecommunications. It will help you put the developments of today into context, so that you can understand why things turned out the way they are. Why are some parts of the global communications revolution moving so quickly?.
Telecommunications technology has been the prime driver for change in the world since 1850. Yes, cheap transport, plentiful food, easy energy supply and lethal weapons technology have all had a huge effect, but they simply couldn’t have happened without telecoms. The flow of information enables everything else.
The story which will unfold will be an interweaving of technology and commerce with the heavy hand of government firmly trying to control things
This story starts with the electric telegraph. The newspaper proprietors pushed the technology forward and the public became aware of the value of telegraphy and the government nationalised it. The telephone was the next great invention. Telephony began with private enterprise and then the government stepped in. Radio followed with the same pattern but instead of direct control of the government it went to the BBC. Next up television and the BBC ran it from the beginning. The next phase in the history of each service (except for the telegraph which effectively was superceded) has been the government giving up control in return for tax revenues.
As a backdrop to these events Great Britain had defeated France in 1815 and for the next century was the undisputed super power. At the zenith, in about 1920, the British Empire held sway over one-quarter of the world's population, and covered almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. The long slow decline in relative importance from that glory is reflected as UK's position as the dominant player in telecoms is eroded to that of reasonable sized player.
This history will grow page by page over the next few weeks. Please enjoy. Feedback is welcome.