Telstra history, company profile (overview) and corporate video
Telstra is a telecommunications and technology company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. It offers communications services, NBN broadband internet, mobile phones, 5G, and on-demand streaming services.
HISTORY
Telstra’s origins date back to 1854, when the first telegraph line in Australia was built between Melbourne and Williamstown.
By 1878, the first long-distance call trials were conducted in Australia at a range of 400 km.
In 1880, the first telephone exchanges opened in Melbourne and Brisbane.
In 1890, the first public telephone was placed at Sydney’s General Post Office.
By 1900, there were 30,000 operating telephone services, but no central authority to run and maintain them.
In the 1900s, all communication services – postal, telegraph, and telephone – were placed under the Postmaster General’s Department (PMG).
In 1907, the Sydney to Melbourne trunk telephone line opened, making inter-city chat a reality.
The outbreak of the First World War saw responsibility for wireless communications pass briefly from the PMG to the Navy, but this was flipped back to the PMG by 1920.
In 1922, trunk lines extended out between Sydney and Brisbane.
By 1925, the first three-channel telephone carrier systems were in place, allowing multiple calls to be run along a single wire.
By 1930, trunk lines were extended between Melbourne and Perth.
In 1936, the longest submarine cable at that time, between the mainland and Tasmania, enabled communication services for the Apple Isle.
In 1946, the Commonwealth Government established the Overseas Telecommunications Commission to provide telecom services between Australia and the rest of the world.
By 1948, it was possible to phone ships at sea, and a radio telephone service linked Australia and Antarctica.
In 1956, the introduction of the automatic TRESS (Teleprinter Reperforator Exchange Switching System) signaled the end of the morse transmission of messages.
In 1964, the first coaxial cable linked Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne. It allowed for thousands of simultaneous calls and TV retransmissions.
In 1966 and 1967, the first satellite broadcasts took place.
In the 1970s, the Postmaster General’s Department was split into the Australian Postal Commission and the Australian Telecommunications Commission, trading as Telecom.
In the 1980s, Telecom offered its very first mobile phone in the form of a car phone.
In 1981, Telecom set up its first computerized exchange in Victoria
In 1992, Telecom merged with the Overseas Telecommunications Corporation and changed its name to Telstra, firstly overseas in 1993 and domestically in 1995.
In 1996, the internet became a core business part of Telstra, with BigPond launching, along with the high-speed cable internet service.
In 1997, Telstra listed its shares on the ASX.
In 2000, optical fibers were installed into the domestic network, and high-definition TV (HDTV) and multi-media equipment became cost-effective for domestic use.
In 2004, BigPond Movies and BigPond Music were launched.
With more than 26,000 employees and an international presence spanning over 20 countries, Telstra is considered one of Australia’s leading telecommunications and technology companies. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the Largest Public Companies in the World.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and www.telstra.com.au.
**Video published on YouTube by “Telstra“