The Long Lines division of AT&T was considered to be the “long distance” company that connected the regional Bell companies and independent telephone companies alike. This was the infrastructure that existed from the beginnings of the telephone to the “breakup” (divestiture) of AT&T in 1984. Following divestiture, Long Lines continued as the core of AT&T until it was purchased by Southwestern Bell in 2005 and became the “new” AT&T as we know it now.
Source for most of this came from a blog post from Garrett Fuller “AT&T Long Lines, A forgotten Tale” with some minor corrections and other notes added by Telephone World.
AT&T Long Lines – Long Distance Made Possible For The Masses
A microwave tower as part of the original Long Lines network. (Photo: Spencer Harding)
The era spawning from the 1950s throughout the 1980s can be considered the golden era of telecommunication. While computers were expanding from items consuming entire rooms to something that could fit on a person’s desk, so was the way we communicate. Televisions went from being a luxury item to being in every home. Telephone systems were not only used for voice, but to transfer data from one location to another almost instantaneously. The inventions that were used during this time period are all obsolete, but it’s often forgotten how we’ve arrived where we are.
The AT&T Long Lines system is one of the systems that transformed communication systems but is nearly forgotten about. Without relying on vulnerable, expensive, and high-maintenance wired systems in a time where satellite communications and fiber optics did not exist, the Long Lines system allowed people to connect from all over the country.
The History of the Long Lines System
Throughout the hey-days of telephone and telegraph systems, wired systems were the only option. Long lines of coaxial cable connected cities together, although this system presented major issues. The first was vulnerability. Much like power lines and present above-ground cable systems, a tree limb or storm could easily knock down the cables. This isn’t a major problem when ten or twenty people are affected, but when hundreds of thousands of people are affected – including vital operations, it grows into a catastrophe.
The second issue is the wired systems were expensive to setup and required lots of maintenance. Miles and miles of thick cable isn’t cheap, and isn’t cheap or easy to install or repair when it was damaged. (We’re talking about an era predating “self-diagnostic” systems that would automatically alert the telephone company where a break had happened.)
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