Around the World by Telephone

HE first two-way telephone conversations completely encircling the earth took place at New York City, during April, 1935. The two telephone instruments used were located in separate rooms on the 26th floor of the Long Distance Building at 32 Sixth Avenue, New York. In connection with these tests, Mr. Gifford, President of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, spoke with VicePresident Miller, and a number of other persons conversed over this around-the-world circuit for some thirty minutes on April 25th. These world-encircling conversations were made possible by the very close cooperation of the several communication interests involved, including the British Post Office, the Netherlands Telephone Administration, the Netherlands Indies Telephone Administration, and the Bell System. The circuit used was completely four-wire and was made up of a cable and open wire carrier telephone circuit from New York to San Francisco, a radio link from San Francisco to Bandoeng, Java, a radio link from Bandoeng to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, a land and submarine cable link from Amsterdam to London, England, and another radio link back to New York. The approximate lengths of each type of facility and the radio frequencies used in each radio link are indicated in the table below: Radio Frequencies Used Circuit Sections Type of Facilities Length New York-San Francisco San Francisco-Bandoeng Bandoeng-Amsterdam.. . Amsterdam-London Cable and Open Wire Carrier Radio Radio Cable Radio 3500 Mi.