Early Beginnings
1871 - England, Australia, and Hong Kong were already connected by underwater or submarine cables from the Great Northern Telegraph Co. and the Eastern Telegraph Company.
1873 - Three big telegraph companies formed Eastern Extension: Australiasia and China Telegraph Co., British-India Extension Telegraph Co., and British-Australian Telegraph Co.
1878 - The Spanish government awarded to Eastern Extension a 40-year concession to lay down a submarine telegraph cable that will interconnect Luzon (Philippines) with Hong Kong.
1880 – The Eastern Extension laid its first International submarine cable between the Philippines and Hong Kong. The cable was laid by the cable ship Calabaria. It took over four months to do and was completed on May 2, 1880. The cable stretched 535 nautical miles from Hong Kong to Bolinao, Pangasinan. From Bolinao, it was extended via a 160-mile landline to Manila.
1886 to 1887 – The Bolinao office was opened in 1886 and the Manila office opened in November 1887 to offer telegraph services. The speed of telegraphic messages brings a huge leap to governance, commerce, and information. Beginning 1887, the Spanish government further subsidized the laying of three submarine cables to interlink Manila, Capiz, Iloilo, Bacolod, Escalante, and Cebu. The cable ship Sherard Osborn was used.
1898 - The 160-mile overland cable connecting Bolinao with Manila was replaced with a submarine cable to Manila Bay, due to frequent cuttings by the revolutionary forces. In the same year, the telegraphy cable was again repaired after it was cut during the Spanish-American naval battles in Manila Bay.
When the winning Americans took over the administration of the Philippine government, they put up their own telegraph and telephone lines for overseas and inter-island cable services.
COGH Cable
Telegram Radio Key
Filipinos Laying Cable from Submarine Origin
1901 to 1903 – The 7,911 nautical mile Trans-Pacific cable was laid within the Philippines as a key relay station.
1920-1930s - Eastern Communications faced a dire threat from the 1920s up to the mid 1930s as a new mode of telecommunications surfaced—the radio. In response, Eastern adapted the use of radio technology until Eastern Extension eventually partnered and became part of Cable and Wireless, Ltd.
Manila Cable Office
1946 - The first major damage came when the invading Japanese forces bombed North Harbor. All communications ceased as the Japanese occupied the Philippines. Immediate repairs began after the war and upon securing permission from the London Company and Eastern Extension. In September 30, 1946, the repairs were finally authorized by Emilio Abelle, Chief Executive Officer of the Office of the President of the Philippines.
