Long Distance Telephone Circuits in Cable

U R I N G the last two decades there has been, in all countries which have a large telephone development, a remarkable increase in the use of long distance telephone circuits in cable resulting in the building up of such large networks of long distance telephone cables as those which today cover the continent of Europe and a part of the continent of North America. This paper discusses the technical problems encountered in this development and the solutions applied in the development of the long distance cable network of the United States of America, using this as an illustration because it is the telephone plant with which the authors are most familiar. IMPORTANT CABLE DEVELOPMENT MILESTONES IN THE UNITED STATES The early long distance telephone circuits in the United States were practically all open wire. In fact, great care was exercised in laying out open-wire circuits to eliminate the necessity for using even short stretches of cable. Cable began to be considered seriously for long distance service when loading became available. In 1902 the first commercially loaded cable circuits in the United States were installed between New York City and Newark, N. J., a distance of about 11 miles (17 kilometers). Other cables rapidly followed, until in 1906 loaded cables were installed between New York and New * Presented at 5-12, 1932. The International ' Electrical 520 Congress, Paris, France, July LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE CIRCUITS 521 Haven, a distance of 79 miles (127 kilometers), and between New York and Philadelphia, a distance of 87 miles (140 kilometers).