BACK IN THE DAY

摘要

The laying of the 1866 Trans-Atlantic telegraph cable heralded a revolution in global telecommunications. However, just 10 years after its completion, Alexander Graham Bell submitted his patent for the telephone. It then took a further 15 years before an international telephone call could be made from the UK. In 1891 an undersea telephone cable manufactured by Siemens Brothers was laid by the Post Office Cable Ship Monarch from St Margaret's Bay in Dover to Calais. This four-core cable could provide two telephone voice circuits and was opened to the public on 1 April 1891, controlled and worked from the Central Telegraph Office at Newgate Street, London. The line was largely used by members of the London and Paris Bourse Stock Exchanges, as well as for press work and general commercial purposes. Calls were charged at 8 shillings per three minutes with a maximum call duration set at six minutes, except during quiet periods of the day and then only by prior arrangement. Having pre-booked acall it was customary for a user to then telegraph the person they wanted to speak to, to ensure they were ready andwaiting on the line to receive their call at the appointed time.