The second basic force operating on the telecommunications industry has always been public opinion. Whether state-owned or in private hands, operators cannot ignore strong and consistent criticism. When they have, their businesses have suffered - or they have found their control significantly reduced by regulation.
Initial development of the telegraph followed the specific needs of railway, commercial and government users.
The pressures on the operating companies came from the establishment rather than from public opinion at large. So telegraph operators were being pressured from...
In Britain the telephone started out much as the telegraph did, in the hands of privately owned free enterprise. But a change of government led to the law being used to hinder the telephone industry growing in an unregulated or unlicensed way.
As a result the industry...
The system that evolved during the 1920s and 1930s was outdated, bureaucratic and sluggish. At the same time it was surprisingly inventive and far sighted. In short, it was heavy going - but it worked.
By 1939 our telecommunication networks were among the most advanced...