The Origins of Microwave Telephony—Waves of Change

Abstract

The Origins of Microwave Telephony—Waves of Change PHILIP L. CANTELON No issue regarding the potential value of technology has captured the attention of policymakers, politicians, and the public as much as the “information superhighway.” In 1994, amid much fanfare, Vice President A1 Gore unveiled a plan that would free the telecommuni­ cations industry from most major federal regulations, thereby com­ pleting a process begun with the breakup of the Bell System and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company’s (AT&T) monopoly on long-distance service in 1984. But federal policy has not always been so supportive of technological change. Fifty years ago, telecom­ munications operated over one-lane gravel roads, and responsible government agencies were slow to have them widened, much less paved. It is arguable that the structure of no major industry has been more changed over the past decades than long-distance telecommunica­ tions. From a business characterized by a giant monopoly, mechanical switching, and copper-wire lines, telecommunications has become an industry driven by competition and computerized “intelligent net­ works” routing millions of calls through fiberoptic cables. Rare is the mechanical rotary telephone. Today, technology has made possible advanced data phones which can pay bills, screen and answer calls, collect messages, and send faxes. Tomorrow, futurists promise, Americans will be able to merge telephone, computer, and cable tech­ nologies and zip over the information superhighway to choose mov­ ies, watch hundreds of cable channels, and access dozens of databases. The changes in telecommunications have come, for the most part, through three forces: technological advances, market demand, and Dr. Cantelon is president of History Associates Incorporated, a historical services company based in Rockville, Md., and president of the Society for History in the Federal Government. This article grew out of a study of MCI Communications Corpo­ ration. Another version appeared in his History of MCI: 1968-1988, the Early Years (Dallas, 1993) and is used with MCI’s permission. He thanks David K. Johnson, J. Samuel Walker, and James N. Wallace for their assistance and constructive comments.© 1995 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/95/3603-0002501.00 560 The Origins ofMicrowave Telephony 561 government regulation. Ironically, the same agency that retarded the development of advanced telecommunications technology after World War II fostered its growth twenty-five years later. A series of decisions issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) between 1967 and 1973 to permit competition in telecommunications were as critical to the changes that did take place as the commission’s earlier decision to block wide commercial development of microwave communication technology in 1944. This competition both created and stimulated the demand for new technologies, products, and ser­ vices, thereby nurturing the emergence of additional equipment manufacturers in the United States, Europe, and Japan who were able to meet and often surpass the old technologies developed by AT&T and the Bell System. Although World War II witnessed great technological strides, there were differing opinions on how some of those advances might be transferred to civilian applications. Microwave telecommunications systems fell into that uncertain category. In 1944, when the end of the war was in sight, several electronic contractors, including IBM, General Electric, and Raytheon, sought to develop peacetime applica­ tions of microwave technology. Raytheon, for example, proposed building a nationwide microwave network to carry long-distance calls, facsimile transmissions, and airplane navigation signals. The system, Raytheon argued, would be far cheaper to build and maintain than the old wire technology, largely unchanged since the early years of the 20th century. The FCC, however, balked, as did all the existing landline tele­ phone companies. The investment in copper-wire technology was enormous. Microwave systems, one argument went, would make the existing technology obsolete overnight, perhaps forcing AT&T, the most widely held and largest corporation in the world, to write down its equipment base and jeopardize the investment of its shareholders, many of whom were said to be widows and orphans. Therefore, the FCC blocked commercial development by other companies and turned to AT&T to implement the new technology at its own pace and thereby insure industry stability. The delay would last nearly a quarter of a century. The First Wave: April 18, 1945 The banquet...