Page 10 - The TM Submarine Cable Book
P. 10
1: The History: How it started
The sea proved as an effective barrier Following the country's Independence in
to transmission of messages with 1957, the Malayan Telecommunications
expedition till telegraph was invented Department was renamed Jabatan
in 1837. With innovations in Telekom. One of its first tasks was to
telecommunications technology, the provide telecommunications facilities
first telegraph cable with only one throughout the nation, as part of the Rural
circuit was laid across the English Development Plan. Microwave radio
Channel between England and links were established which, by 1962,
France in 1850. covered most urban centres in Peninsular
Malaysia.
In 1891 the first submarine telephone
cable was laid between England and In 1962, too, the Government took control
France and then between Netherland of international calls from Cable &
and Denmark with 36 circuits in 1950. Wireless, which had been operating
The longest cable link of 3,400 Malaysia's overseas telecommunications
nautical miles is between Europe and services for almost 10 years. Subscriber
United States spanning the Atlantic trunk dialling (STD) was introduced,
Ocean with 4,000 voice grade enabling telephone owners in Kuala
telephone circuit. Lumpur to call Singapore directly, without
having to go through an operator, using the
HISTORY OF first long-distance microwave link.
Overseas calls were further enhanced with
SUBMARINE the roll-out of South East Asia
Commonwealth Cable System
CABLES IN (SEACOM), which formed part of the
Commonwealth Cable Scheme. In 1961,
MALAYSIA the Federation of Malaya and Singapore
became partners in this initiative, with
Malaya investing about $12 million in it.
The first phase of SEACOM between
Singapore and Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu),
in Sabah, was opened on 15 January
The first telegraph line connecting to 1964. On 30 March 1967, the entire
the British Resident at Perak House in system was commissioned and this is the
Kuala Kangsar to the house of Deputy beginning of the submarine cable services
British Resident in Perak at Taiping, in Malaysia.
and was laid by the Department of
Posts and Telegraph in 1874. This
telegraph line measured 42.5 km and
travelled across a forest at Bukit
Berapit, and signalled the beginning of
the era of telecommunications in
Malaysia.
However, during the World War II and
Japanese occupation in Malaya
(1941-1945), the telegraph lines were
nearly completely destroyed by the
Nippon army.
Machinery used for paying out the electric telegraph cable
on board of the USS Niagara and HMS Agamemnon ship
in 1857-1858.
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