Transatlantic Telephone Cable System — 

 Planning and Over-All Performance 



By E. T. MOTTRAM,* R. J. HALSEY,t J. W. EMLING* 



and R. G. GRIFFITHJ 



(Manuscript received October 10, 1956) 



The transatlantic telephone cable system was designed as a link connecting 

 communication networks on the two sides of the Atlantic. The technical 

 planning of the system and the objectives set up so that this role would be 

 fidfilled, are the principal subjects of this paper. Typical performance char- 

 acteristics illustrate the high degree with which the objectives have been 

 realized. Optimum application of the experience of the British Post Office 

 with rigid repeaters and the Bell System with flexible repeaters, together with 

 close cooperation among three administrations, have played a large part in 

 achieving the objectives. 



INTRODUCTION 



The transatlantic telephone cable system was planned primarily to 

 connect London to New York and London to Montreal, and thus serve 

 as an interconnection between continent-wide networks on the two sides 

 of the Atlantic. Thus, the system has to be capable of serving as a link in 

 wire circuits as long as 10,000 miles, connecting telephone instruments 

 supplied by various administrations and used by peoples of many nations. 

 This role as an intercontinental link has, therefore, been a controlling 

 consideration in setting the basic objectives for the system. 



The end sections of the system utilize facilities which are integral 

 parts of the internal networks of the United States, Great Britain and 

 Canada, but the essential new connecting links, extending between 

 Oban, Scotland, and the United States-Canada border, and forming 

 the greater part of the system, were built under an Agreement between 

 the joint owners — the American Telephone and Telegraph Company 

 and its subsidiary the Eastern Telephone and Telegraph Company (oper- 

 ating in Canada), the British Post Office, and the Canadian Overseas 



* Bell Telephone Laboratories, t British Post Office. % Canadian Overseas 

 Telecommunication Corporation. 



