Proof set: 150 years of telecommunication

150 years of telecommunication cover

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150 years of telecommunication 100 rupee obverse

100 rupee reverse

150 years of telecommunication 2 rupee

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Telecomunication in general refers to communication over a distance. Now obviously the communication process has changed significantly over the years since its introduction in India about 150 years ago.

The postal and telecom sectors had a slow and fidgety start in India. In 1850, the first experimental electric telegraph Line was started between Kolkata and Diamond Harbor it was opened for the British East India Company one year later. Post or telepgraph was not given much importance at that stage. Construction of telegraph lines connecting Kolkata (Calcutta) and Peshawar in the north along with Agra, Mumbai (Bombay) through Sindwa Ghats, and Chennai in the south, as well as Ootacamund and Bangalore was started in November 1853. Dr. William O'Shaughnessy worked towards the development of telecom throughout this period. Telegraph facilities were opened to the public in 1854.

In 1881, a licence was granted to the Oriental Telephone Company Limited of England for opening telephone exchanges at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Ahmedabad and the first formal telephone service was established in the country.On 28 January 1882, Major E. Baring, Member of the Governor General of India's Council declared open the Telephone Exchanges in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. The exchange in Calcutta named "Central Exchange" was opened at third floor of the building at 7, Council House Street.A telephone exchange was also opened in Bombay in 1882.

Needless to say, the telecommunication system has gone a sea change since its inception way back in 1850. Now in major cities the number of cellular phones outstrips the number of landlines. Kids who have mobile phones may not understand that there was a time not too long back when having a single landline in a household was a rarity.