World Telecommunications and Information Society Day reminds us how the world has changed thanks to telecommunications
The first telegraph line on the territory of today's Slovakia, which connected the Vienna and Bratislava railway stations, began its operation on December 26, 1847. Three years later, another telegraph line was opened on the section Bratislava - Nove Zamky - Szob - Pest. Nove Zamky thus became the seat of the second telegraph station in our territory. The establishment of telegraph lines was very expensive, the telegraph spread over very slowly. Between 1846 and 1865, 50 postal telegraph and 39 railway telegraph stations were established in Hungary. The faster expansion was helped by the state's permission that the telegraph could also be used for private purposes. In 1870, 64 postal and 24 railway telegraph stations were already available in Slovakia.
New telecommunications technologies, initially voice service, later data services and access to the internet caused the public in Slovakia to use the public telegraph service less and less. Finally, the telecommunications regulator decided that the national provider is obliged to provide public telegraph service only until December 31, 2006. In January 2007, after the end of providing public telegraph service in Slovakia, the last telegraph switchboard was disconnected. They also stopped using telegraph operation in air and ship transport, and persons providing communication no longer had to pass an exam in telegraphy. On the other hand, radio amateurs continue to use telegraphy, even though knowledge of it is not a condition for obtaining a radio amateur permit.
Currently, the purpose of the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day is to draw public attention to the use of the internet, information and telecommunications technologies. Do you know that the monopoly of the national telecom to provide internet access ended in 1992? Initially, the most widespread connection method was dial-up. The computer was connected to a fixed telecommunications network via a modem that "dialed" the Internet provider's access number, most often in the form of 019xy. Such a connection was very slow and at the same time very expensive. It was charged according to the time you were connected to the internet, and if you weren't careful, you could spend the entire month's salary surfing the internet. At the end of 2002, according to the statistics of the Communications Research Institute, the density of households connected to the internet was only 3.81%
The expansion of fast and affordable access to the internet was largely due to alternative, local and regional telecommunications operators, a large part of which are currently part of the Telecommunication union of Slovak Republic. These operators started to build radio and later fixed access networks, through which they ensured faster access to the internet at an affordable price. Access charges no longer depended on the time spent on the internet, but on the volume of transferred data. Later, only a flat monthly fee for the service was charged. Telecommunications services have thus become more affordable and accessible to everyone.