Can you imagine signing up for a telephone service and being unable to call your relatives because they used a different company? Although this may seem unthinkable today, this was the reality for users for more than half a century. It was a history of corporate rivalry and isolation that delayed the integration of the country.
The use of long-distance telephone service in Mexico began in 1878, two years after Alexander Graham Bell patented the invention. That year, the first telephone connection was established, linking the Mexico City police inspection office with the Tlalpan police station. However, the formal telephone network began to take shape during the 1880s and 1890s.
It was in this environment that the two corporations that would compete for the preference of Mexican consumers until the mid-20th century emerged: the Compañía Telefónica Mexicana and the Swedish Empresa de Teléfonos Ericsson S.A.
The pioneer was the Compañía Telefónica Mexicana, founded in 1882 and supported by a subsidy from the Bell Telephone Co. of Boston. This company was the first to provide telephone service in the capital. Its initial growth was recorded in 1891, when it published its “Subscriber List No. 1,” containing just over 800 names. By 1899, the figure had risen to 1,110 subscribers, and by 1900 it was already providing service to 18 cities throughout the Republic, with just over 3,000 telephone sets in operation.
On February 18, 1905, the company, with one million dollars in capital, changed its name to Compañía Telefónica y Telegráfica Mexicana (CTTM), becoming a subsidiary of International Telephone and Telegraph Co. (ITT).
In 1907, the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works (SCOP) granted it a concession to use the federal network in the capital. The CTTM distinguished itself from its rival through a particular detail: the dials on its telephones used a combination of letters and numbers, such as A-1, F-2, or H-3.
During the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles, the CTTM expanded its long-distance operations.
On September 29, 1927, it achieved its greatest historical milestone by connecting Mexico and the United States in the first telephone conference between Presidents Plutarco Elías Calles and Calvin Coolidge. Two months later, communication with Canada was inaugurated, and on July 1, 1928, the connection with Europe was established.
Empresa de Teléfonos Ericsson S.A. built its own reputation based on technical quality. It was founded by Lars Magnus Ericsson in Sweden in 1876. The company obtained a concession in Mexico in 1894 and began operations in 1904 under the management of Alex Bostrom.
In 1905, Mexikanska Telefonaktielget Ericsson was established following the transfer of a 30-year concession from the SCOP to José Sitzenstátter.
La Roma, key to telecommunications
By May 7, 1910, the company had adopted the name Empresa de Teléfonos Ericsson S.A. It made an impression by installing steel poles imported from Germany in the Roma and Juárez neighborhoods, and its transmission quality allowed it to quickly reach 7,000 subscribers.
In 1924, Ericsson inaugurated the country’s first automated telephone exchange in the Roma neighborhood, with a capacity of 10,000 lines.
Source: expansion
