 | Telecommunications in Cyprus |
The history of telecommunications in Cyprus began on November 9, 1870, when it was decided to link telegraphically Cyprus with Lattakia by a submarine cable which was installed by the British "Newall Company". The Cyprus terminal site of the cable was at Ayios Theodoros of Karpasia to the north-east of Famagusta. From that point, an internal telegraphy network was constructed connecting Ayios Theodoros to Nicosia and Nicosia to Larnaka.At that time, the commercial centres of Cyprus were Nicosia and Larnaka, Larnaka being also the main port of the island as well as the town where all the consulates were located.
This telegraphic link was the first step in the development of telecommunications in Cyprus.
In 1878, Cyprus came under British Colonial rule. During the same year the "Eastern Telegraph Company" obtained licence to install a new telegraphic cable which linked Larnaka with Alexandria and then with London through other submarine cables. This cable, which was inaugurated on the 19 October, 1878, did not employ any repeaters and its capacity was one telegraph channel.
A more comprehensive internal network was also established linking the six main towns, and the Troodos mountain area where government officials and the main government services moved during the summer period. Larnaka, then a prominent commercial centre of Cyprus, became also the centre of the newly formed telegraph communications.
The transmission of telegraph messages was based on a manual system called the Morse-Recorder system. If there happened to be any intermediate stations between the source and destination points of the telegram, the message was relayed manually from station to station.
However, the cable operation was very unreliable and in 1910 communications over the Lattakia cable were abandoned.
At around 1905, a government controlled telegraph network was formed, operating along the railway network from Famagusta to Nicosia. This network gradually developed westwards following the railway network first to Morphou and then to Evrychou.
The period between 1925 and 1926 witnessed for the first time the appearance of private wireless telegraph stations, which according to the 1925 Regulations were granted licence for reception purposes only.
International Telegraphy was further developed when the Larnaka-Haifa submarine cable was laid. Communication was established on 19th January 1928. Once again this cable did not employ any repeaters and its capacity was one telegraph channel.
Wireless telegraphy, providing both transmission and reception facilities made its appearance in Cyprus in 1933, when Larnaka-Radio was installed by Cable and Wireless. The station was formally opened on 5th February 1934. It provided a ship-shore telegraph service and was also used as a stand-by route during submarine cable interruptions.
(Ενδιαφέρον ιστορικό επάνω στις Τηλεπικοινωνίες στη Κύπρο-σε Αγγλική γλώσσα. από φίλιο δεσμό.Η συνέχεια του ενδιαφέροντος άρθρου εδώ:http://www.cyhams.org/oldsite/tic.htm )
