History of telephone service in Catalonia

Telephone service in Catalonia dates to the end of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th, the Spanish government left it to private industry to create the infrastructure for telephone communications. The companies created only those lines which they thought would be profitable.

There were two telephone companies in Catalonia: Companyia Telefónica del Vallès and Companyia Peninsular de Telèfons

Envisioning a future public telephone service serving the whole region, the Catalonian government, or Mancomunitat de Catalunya, under Prat de la Riba, kickstarted the process of linking the majority of Catalonian towns by telephone.

After Spanish prime minister and dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera abolished the Mancomunitat, work on the Catalan intercity telephone network was interrupted. It would not be completed for many more years, long after the end of the Spanish Civil War.

Chronology

* 16 December 1877 The first telephone trials in the Iberian peninsula take place, between two lecture halls in the College of Industry, Barcelona.
* 26 December 1877 The first long distance telephone conference takes place, between Barcelona and Girona.
* 1884 A royal decree establishes a state monopoly over all telephone services.
* 1886 The take-over of phone service by private companies is authorized due to lack of interest on the part of the Spanish government.
* 20 April 1896 An intercity telephone line between Barcelona, Saragossa and Madrid is inaugurated.

Prohibition of the use of Catalan

*29 May 1896 By order of the Directorate-General of the Post Office, the use of Catalan is prohibited in intercity telephone communications.
* 20 June 1896 By royal decree, the use of Catalan in intercity telephone and telegram communications is authorized, lifting the restrictions imposed by the previous decree.
*1911 The Science Faculty of the Institute of Catalan Studies is founded.
*1913 The Companyia Telefónica del Vallès begins telephone services.
*1914 Prat de la Riba becomes leader of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya.

The Mancomunitat Plans to Supply Telephone Service Throughout Catalonia

*20 July 1915 The Mancomunitat signs an agreement with the Companyia Peninsular de Telèfons, owned by Enric Parellada, "Bases de Inteligencia", allowing the Mancomunitat to lay down those lines it sees fit to create, without prejudice to the rights of the company.
*2 March 1915 Foundation of the Telephone Department of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, headed by Esteban Terradas i Illa, who won the contest to head the department. The Telephone Department was charged with bringing telephone service to all parts of Catalonia.
* [9 September] 1915 A royal decree authorizes the Mancomunitat to install and operate the remaining Catalan telephone network to form "una Red telefònica interurbana que pueda unir varios o todos los pueblos de las cuatro provincias mancomunadas" ("An intercity telephone network capable of joining some or all of the people of the four provinces of the Catalan Mancomunitat.")
*1916 The Barcelona Technology Agency of the Telephone Department of the Mancomunitat is formed, headed by Terradas, and employing an interim official, two auxiliary officers, a comptroller, a typist, a copyist, and a "mosso de magatzem".
*1 July 1916 The phonebox at Mollerussa becomes operational.
*8 August 1916 The phonebox at Lleida becomes operational.

The Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera Halts the Progress of the Mancomunitat

*13 September 1923 A coup d'état in Spain by Primo de Rivera, who suspends the Constitution, dissolves Parliament and imposes a military dictatorship based on nationalist, authoritarian principles.
*3 February 1924 In Balaguer, the first automatic telephone exchange in Spain is inaugurated, constructed by the Telephone Department of the Mancomunitat and directed by Esteban Terradas.
*1919 Esteban Terradas founds the Institute of Applied Electrical and Mechanical Studies, and becomes its director.
*1923 Albert Einstein visits Barcelona as part of the cursos monogràfics d'Alts Estudis i d'Intercanvi organized by the Mancomunitat.
*19 April 1924 The Spanish National Telephone Company is constituted.
*5 November 1925 With the establishment of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the Mancomunitat's telephone network becomes part of the Spanish National Telephone Company.
*1928 Telephone service is instituted between Spain and the United States.
*1929 Terradas is named director of the Spanish National Telephone Company.
*Following the Spanish Civil War, during the era of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, the era of State control of the telephone service begins.

Entry of Spain to the European Union and Deregulation of the Telephone Service

The entry of Spain to the European Union leads to the promulgation of the Law on the Regulation of the Telecommunications Industry (LOT), which regulates the new certification system for telephone companies and allows for the entry of other network operators, leading to improvements in telephone service.

ee also

* History of Catalonia
* History of the Economy of Catalonia
* Esteban Terradas i Illa
* Compañía Telefónica Nacional de EspañaThis article is a translation of the original at Història de la telefonia a Catalunya

External links

* [http://www.imim.es/quark/31/031078.pdf Terradas y la Telefonia]
* [http://www.telefonica.es/ Web portal of Telefònica, SA]