Cable & Wireless Ltd
Other Business Names:
- Pender, Sir John
- Eastern Extension Australasia & China Telegraph Co Ltd
- British Indian Extension Co Ltd
- China Submarine Telegraph Co Ltd
- British Australian Telegraph Co Ltd
- Eastern & Associated Telegraph Cos
- Eastern Telegraph Co Ltd
- Eastern Extension Australasia & China Telegraph Co Ltd
- Western Telegraph Co Ltd
- Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co Ltd
- Pacific Cable Board
- Imperial & International Communications Ltd
- Mercury Communications Ltd
- Cable & Wireless Communications Plc
- Cable & Wireless Worldwide Plc
Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:
- London, Greater London, Greater London, Greater London, England
- Porthcurno, Cornwall, Cornwall, South West, England
Sectors:
-
Telecommunication & postal services
Telecommunication services
Notes:
Traces its origins to a network of submarine telegraph businesses formed from the late 1860s which came to provide a leading international communications network of major importance to the extension of British economic and political interests. Its major architect was Sir John Pender, 1816-96. It underwent seemingly continuous consolidation. For example, the Eastern Extension Australasia & China Telegraph Co Ltd was established in 1873 through merger of British Indian Extension Co Ltd [est 1868], China Submarine Telegraph Co Ltd [est 1869] and British Australian Telegraph Co Ltd [est 1870]. This consolidation was taken further through the formation of a grouping known as Eastern & Associated Telegraph Cos which embraced, inter alia, Eastern Telegraph Co Ltd [ est 1872], Eastern Extension Australasia & China Telegraph Co Ltd [est 1873], and Western Telegraph Co Ltd [est 1899]. In 1929 these merged with the wireless communications (but not manufacturing) interests of Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co Ltd and some others interests including those of the Pacific Cable Board to form a communications business called Imperial & International Communications Ltd which in 1934 was renamed Cable & Wireless Ltd. Nationalised 1947 and privatised 1981. Established a UK telecoms business, Mercury Communications Ltd, to compete with British Telecommunications Plc. 2010 demerged as two entities, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Plc, which in 2012 was acquired by Vodaphone, and Cable & Wireless Communications Plc which in 2016 was acquired by Liberty Global [2023]
Publications:
- Associated Cable Companies in South America, 1866-1922 by Farver, F H C
- Cable King. The life of John Pender, 1816-1896. by Ash, Stewart
- Century of Service. A brief history of Cable & Wireless Ltd, 1868-1968 by Baglehole, K C
- Far Eastern Telegraphs. The history of telegraphic communications between the Far East, Europe and America before the First World War by Ahvenainen, Jorma
- Fifty Years of 'Via Eastern'. A souvenir and record of the celebrations in connection with the jubilee of the Eastern Associated Telegraph Companies, MCMXXII by Unknown
- Girdle Round the Earth. The story of Cable & Wireless and its predecessors to mark the group's jubilee, 1929-1979 by Barty-King, Hugh
- Global Companies in the Twentieth Century. Selected archival histories. Vol 5. Cable & Wireless by McIntosh, Malcolm, & Ruth Edwards (eds)
- History of Porthcurno by Cleaver, William (Dan)
- History of the Marconi Company by Baker, W J
- Industrial research at the Eastern Telegraph Company, 1872-1929 by Noakes, Richard
- Inside an International. Forty years with Cable & Wireless by Stray, J F
- 'Origins of Cable & Wireless Ltd, 1918-1939. Capitalism, imperialism and technical change' in B Finn & D Yang (eds), Communications under the Seas. The evolving cable network and its implications by Boyce, Robert
- 'Privatising British Aerospace and Cable & Wireless' in D Parker, Official History of Privatisation. Volume 1. The formative Years, 1970-87 by Parker, David
- Short History of Cable & Wireless by Unknown
- Silver Jubilee of Submarine Telegraphy to the Far East by Unknown
- Souvenir of ... the Twenty Fifth Anniversary of the Establishment of Submarine Telegraphy with the Far East by Unknown
- Spies of Wireless Point.The Eastern Telegraph Co and Marconi's early wireless experiments in Cornwall at Poldhu and Bass Point by Packer, John E
- Stupendous Engine. The first fifty years of telegraphy by Barty-King, Hugh
- Telecommunications and Underdevelopment. A policy analysis of the historical role of Cable & Wireless in the Caribbean by Dunn, H S
- Thin Red Lines by Graves, Charles
- Voices of Change. Further tales from Cable & Wireless by Souden, David
- Voices over the Horizon. Tales from Cable & Wireless by Souden, David
Groups:
Other Business Names:
- Pender, Sir John
- Eastern Extension Australasia & China Telegraph Co Ltd
- British Indian Extension Co Ltd
- China Submarine Telegraph Co Ltd
- British Australian Telegraph Co Ltd
- Eastern & Associated Telegraph Cos
- Eastern Telegraph Co Ltd
- Eastern Extension Australasia & China Telegraph Co Ltd
- Western Telegraph Co Ltd
- Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co Ltd
- Pacific Cable Board
- Imperial & International Communications Ltd
- Mercury Communications Ltd
- Cable & Wireless Communications Plc
- Cable & Wireless Worldwide Plc
Locations city-town / local authority / county1974 / region-state / country:
- London, Greater London, Greater London, Greater London, England
- Porthcurno, Cornwall, Cornwall, South West, England
Sectors:
- Telecommunication & postal services Telecommunication services
Notes:
Traces its origins to a network of submarine telegraph businesses formed from the late 1860s which came to provide a leading international communications network of major importance to the extension of British economic and political interests. Its major architect was Sir John Pender, 1816-96. It underwent seemingly continuous consolidation. For example, the Eastern Extension Australasia & China Telegraph Co Ltd was established in 1873 through merger of British Indian Extension Co Ltd [est 1868], China Submarine Telegraph Co Ltd [est 1869] and British Australian Telegraph Co Ltd [est 1870]. This consolidation was taken further through the formation of a grouping known as Eastern & Associated Telegraph Cos which embraced, inter alia, Eastern Telegraph Co Ltd [ est 1872], Eastern Extension Australasia & China Telegraph Co Ltd [est 1873], and Western Telegraph Co Ltd [est 1899]. In 1929 these merged with the wireless communications (but not manufacturing) interests of Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co Ltd and some others interests including those of the Pacific Cable Board to form a communications business called Imperial & International Communications Ltd which in 1934 was renamed Cable & Wireless Ltd. Nationalised 1947 and privatised 1981. Established a UK telecoms business, Mercury Communications Ltd, to compete with British Telecommunications Plc. 2010 demerged as two entities, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Plc, which in 2012 was acquired by Vodaphone, and Cable & Wireless Communications Plc which in 2016 was acquired by Liberty Global [2023]Publications:
- Associated Cable Companies in South America, 1866-1922 by Farver, F H C
- Cable King. The life of John Pender, 1816-1896. by Ash, Stewart
- Century of Service. A brief history of Cable & Wireless Ltd, 1868-1968 by Baglehole, K C
- Far Eastern Telegraphs. The history of telegraphic communications between the Far East, Europe and America before the First World War by Ahvenainen, Jorma
- Fifty Years of 'Via Eastern'. A souvenir and record of the celebrations in connection with the jubilee of the Eastern Associated Telegraph Companies, MCMXXII by Unknown
- Girdle Round the Earth. The story of Cable & Wireless and its predecessors to mark the group's jubilee, 1929-1979 by Barty-King, Hugh
- Global Companies in the Twentieth Century. Selected archival histories. Vol 5. Cable & Wireless by McIntosh, Malcolm, & Ruth Edwards (eds)
- History of Porthcurno by Cleaver, William (Dan)
- History of the Marconi Company by Baker, W J
- Industrial research at the Eastern Telegraph Company, 1872-1929 by Noakes, Richard
- Inside an International. Forty years with Cable & Wireless by Stray, J F
- 'Origins of Cable & Wireless Ltd, 1918-1939. Capitalism, imperialism and technical change' in B Finn & D Yang (eds), Communications under the Seas. The evolving cable network and its implications by Boyce, Robert
- 'Privatising British Aerospace and Cable & Wireless' in D Parker, Official History of Privatisation. Volume 1. The formative Years, 1970-87 by Parker, David
- Short History of Cable & Wireless by Unknown
- Silver Jubilee of Submarine Telegraphy to the Far East by Unknown
- Souvenir of ... the Twenty Fifth Anniversary of the Establishment of Submarine Telegraphy with the Far East by Unknown
- Spies of Wireless Point.The Eastern Telegraph Co and Marconi's early wireless experiments in Cornwall at Poldhu and Bass Point by Packer, John E
- Stupendous Engine. The first fifty years of telegraphy by Barty-King, Hugh
- Telecommunications and Underdevelopment. A policy analysis of the historical role of Cable & Wireless in the Caribbean by Dunn, H S
- Thin Red Lines by Graves, Charles
- Voices of Change. Further tales from Cable & Wireless by Souden, David
- Voices over the Horizon. Tales from Cable & Wireless by Souden, David