Telecommunications and Power

di Daniel R. Headrick
in Memoria e Ricerca n.s. 5 (2000), p. 13

This work draws an outline of the history of global telecommunications from the first experiments up to the present developments. The guiding thread is here represented by the concept of power: remote communications have always worked like a source of power, both economic and politic. Controlling the “net”, in terms of an historical prospect, gives access to the core of global communications. Formerly the optic telegraph, then the electric telegraph became the new frontier of technology. However, the most astonishing innovation was represented by submarine cables, followed by the introduction of Marconi equipments during the last decades of the XIX century. Widely exploited during the two World Wars, telecommunications have gained an astounding expansion during the last few years. The growth of networks, along with the introduction of satellites and, lately, optic fibres all represent the most up to date accomplishments in communications technology.