Today in the Past

Today, November 22, 1902, the submarine cable from Romblon, Romblon, to Boac, Marinduque, is laid at a distance of 121 kilometers.

Insofar as progress in communication is concerned, the first modern telephone system imported from the United States, was installed in Manila in 1965; it is now a part of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company. In 1918 the first automatic central office equipment in the whole Orient was established in the city.

The radiophone service was inaugurated in 1933, and because of this modern telephone innovation, Manila residents were able to communicate with anybody in San Francisco, New York, Paris, Vienna, Rome, London, and other cities of the world. By 1935, Manila outranked any other city in the Far East in the number of telephones and telephone calls (averaging 200,00 a day). Other telephone systems were established in Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, and other islands.

Wireless telegraphy was introduced by America in the Philippines. The US Army and Navy, the Bureau of Posts, and several private wireless companies maintained wireless communication with the outside world and with ships on the high seas. America also introduced the radio as a new means of communications in the Philippines were established by the government and by private companies. In 1935 there were four privately operated broadcasting stations in the Philippines (the KZRM, KZRH, and KZRF in Manila and the KZRC in Cebu), excluding the radio stations maintained by the Bureau of Posts and the US Army. In the same year there were 28,258 registered radio sets in the country.