Kongliga Telegrafverkets Apparater floor telephone

Founded in 1853 as a telegraph service, Kongliga Telegrafverket was the official arm of the Swedish government. Telegrafverket opened its own telephone factory in Stockholm in 1891. Sweden was unique in the early 20th century because it had one of the highest "telephone densities" in the world. This was largely due to the fierce competition between this state-run agency and private companies (like Ericsson).