Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
Elisha Gray files telephone caveat
First intelligible telephone call
First telephone line
Edison develops carbon button transmitter
Japan reproduces Bell telephones
Blake transmitter patented
First telephone exchange opens in London
Multiple switchboard invented
Telephone service begins in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Sweden and Denmark
Telephone Exchanges open in Berlin, Vienna, and Sydney
First telephone lines in Constantinople and Egypt
Metallic circuit introduced
First telephone exchanges in India, Russia, and Shanghai
First underground telephone cables
First long-distance line: Boston to Providence
Almon Strowger invents the automatic switch
First Strowger automatic exchange
First rotary dial telephones installed
Long-distance line connects Boston to Chicago
First automatic exchange in Europe opens in Berlin
Pupin loading coils patented
Loading coil extends long-distance
De Forest Audion triode invented
First multiplexed telephone circuits
Vacuum tube repeater demonstrated
Transcontinental telephone line completed
First transatlantic voice transmission
First transcontinental phone call
Bell System adopts rotary dial switching
Dial phones spread to major cities
Phantom circuits introduced
Type C carrier system deployed
Negative feedback amplifier invented
First transatlantic phone call
Anti-sidetone circuit developed
First telephone call routed around the world
Alec Reeves invents pulse code modulation
Crossbar switching introduced
Coaxial cable enables broadband
First mobile telephone service
Cellular telephone concept proposed
Microwave relay network begun
Transistor invented at Bell Labs
First customer-dialed long-distance call
Direct long-distance dialing begins
Transistors first used in telephone equipment
Transatlantic telephone cable (TAT-1)
Improved echo suppressors deployed
First commercial modem (Bell 101)
T1 digital carrier system developed
Telstar: first communication satellite
Touch-Tone dialing introduced
TPC-1: First transpacific telephone cable
Early Bird: First commercial geostationary satellite
No. 1 ESS switch enters commercial service
911 emergency number designated
First consumer answering machine (PhoneMate)
Fiber optic telephone transmission
No. 4 ESS digital toll switch deployed
Japan achieves nationwide automatic telephone service
Northern Telecom DMS-100 digital switch
First cellular test network
Siemens debuts digital telephone switching
ISDN development begins at Bell Labs
NMT: World's first automatic cellular network launches
First commercial cellular service in Saudi Arabia
NTT launches world's first ISDN service
Bell System breakup takes effect
Cordless phones go mainstream
Siemens launches first mobile phone
Caller ID first deployed commercially
TAT-8: First transatlantic fiber optic cable
ISDN standard formally published by CCITT
NTT launches nationwide ISDN in Japan
TPC-3: First transpacific fiber optic cable
GSM specification completed
First DSL field trial
SS7 signaling becomes widespread
Caller ID becomes widespread
V.34 modem standard ratified (28.8 kbps)
VoIP demonstrated commercially
V.90 modem standard (56 kbps)
Cell phones surpass expectations