1Telecommunications Evolution Timeline

Telecommunications Evolution Timeline

Roger Chung

NTC/362

February 11, 2013

E. Rufus Rogers

2Telecommunications Evolution Timeline

Telecommunications Evolution Timeline

The history of communication dates back to 1200 BC when Homer talks about signaling

fires in the Iliad. Communications has evolved over hundreds of years from carrier pigeons to

phones to the internet. Thousands of technical advancements throughout history have helped

develop the way we communicate today and some will be mentioned in this paper.

Telegraph

Samuel Morse developed and revolutionized long distance communication with the

invention of Morse Code in the early 1830s and 1840s. Electric signals were transmitted over a

wire laid between stations. The code was assigned a set of dots and dashes to represent each

letter of the alphabet. Morse sent his first telegraph message in 1844 from Washington D.C to

Baltimore Maryland.

Alexander Graham Bell

At the age of 29, Alexander Graham Bell invented the first telephone in 1876. In 1877,

he formed the Bell Telephone Company. After the telephone, Bell had invented the photo phone

which would allow sound to be transmitted on a beam of light. In 1881, he was successful in

doing so with his assistant. Bell’s invention of the photo phone reveals the principle of which

today’s laser and fiber optic communication systems are founded.

AT&T Corp

Originally American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was at times the world largest

telephone company, world’s largest cable television operator, and a regulated monopoly. AT&T

3Telecommunications Evolution Timeline

started as the Bell Patent Association, a legal entity established in 1874 to protect the patent

rights of Alexander Graham Bell after his invention of the telephone.

FCC

The FCC was created after the Communications Act of 1934 because there need to be a

better way of determining who got to use what radio bands and for what purposes. The Radio

Act 1912 was the first attempt to make a more legislative oversight to the radio industry and

whoever wanted to transmit over radio had to do so by obtaining government issued permission

in the form of a license. FCC took over and changed many characteristics of the FRC, but with

the same goal of reducing interference.

Early Networks

During the 1960s, the government was asking computer vendors to develop some

software and hardware so that computers could communicate with each other and share

information. The government was using many mainframe and mini computers in many agencies

at the time. Department of Defense was encouraging vendors to develop standards so that the

Government, Educational, Research, and DOD computers could all communicate using existing

phone lines. A program called ARPNET (advanced research project agency network) protected

information flow between military installations by creating a network of geographically

separated computers that could exchange information in 1969. ARPNET is considered the

grandfather to the internet. This is when TCP/IP was established. It is now the standard for

transmitting data over networks.

Wi-Fi

4Telecommunications Evolution Timeline

Wi-Fi was invented back in 1991 by NCR Corporation/AT&T. Wi-Fi was originally

meant to be used with cahier systems with speeds of 1Mbps/2Mbps. Vic Hayes is the inventor of

Wi-Fi and other standards such as IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11g. Wi-Fi uses unlicensed

radio spectrum and does not require regulatory approval.

WWW.

In 1992, the World Wide Web is launched. Tim Berners-Lee is an independent

contractor for CERN, who built ENQUIRE. It was a personal database of people and software

models, but also a way to play with hypertext. He wanted a way for physicists around the globe

to share data with no common machines or presentation software. In 1990, Berners-Lee had

everything he needed to start the web. He had in play the HTTP, HTML, web browser, first

HTTP server software, first web server, and the first web page to describe the whole project.

Telecommunications Act of 1996

12 years after the breakup of AT&T, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 attempts to

move all telecommunication markets toward competition. “The Act envisions competition in all

telecommunications markets, both in the markets for the various elements that comprise the

telecommunications network, as well as for the final services the network creates. Building on

the experience of the long distance market, which was transformed from a monopoly to an

effectively competitive market over the last 12 years, the Act attempts to promote competition in

the hitherto monopolized local exchange markets. The Act recognizes the telecommunications

network as a network of interconnected networks” (Economides, 1998).

5Telecommunications Evolution Timeline

References

Economides, N. (1998). The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and its Impact. Retrieved from

http://www.stern.nyu.edu/networks/telco96.html

Schilling, J. (2007). WiFi. What is it?. Retrieved from

http://www.wilcorpinc.com/wifi_history.htm

von Alven, W. (1998). Bill's 200-Year Condensed History of Telecommunications. Retrieved

from http://www.cclab.com/billhist.htm