CANTAT-1 was the first

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

transatlantic telephone cable A transatlantic telecommunications cable is a submarine communications cable connecting one side of the Atlantic Ocean to the other. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, each cable was a single wire. After mid-century, coaxial cable came into use ...

, between Hampden,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and eventually

Grosses-Roches, Quebec Grosses-Roches is a municipality in Quebec, Canada. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canad ...

and

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, which followed on from the success of TAT-1. It was conceived and approved as stage one of a proposed commonwealth round the world cable and was done at a cost of $8,500,000. The system was jointly owned by Cable & Wireless and the

Canadian Overseas Telecommunication Corporation Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

(COTC). The system, involving the first commercial use of a new lightweight deep sea cable with a weight in water of about one-fifth that of armored deep sea cable, was laid in two phases. The first, CANTAT A, was the ocean section laid by HMTS ''Monarch'' with the U.K. shore end laid by HMTS ''Ariel''Built 1939 by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd. and the Canadian end laid by the U.S. Army CS ''Albert J. Myer''. The second phase, linked by overland cable from Hampden to

Corner Brook Corner Brook ( 2021 population: 19,333 CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador. ...

, Newfoundland, was the segment laid by HMTS CS ''Alert''Fourth ''Alert'', built in 1961 by Fairfield Ship Building & Engineering. with both shore ends laid by CS ''Hadsund''. The new Trans Atlantic cables, TAT-1, CANTAT-1 and TAT-2, with their high capacity brought about a major change in regulations, with specific changes in the

U.S. Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

policies regarding lease of foreign cable channels by U.S. international record carriers.Companies had been divided by the

Communications Act of 1934 The Communications Act of 1934 is a United States federal law signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 19, 1934 and codified as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code, et seq. The Act replaced the Federal Radio Commission with ...

according to the technology used. CANTAT-1 operated from 1961 to 1986, initially carrying 60 telephone circuits, later modified from 4 kHz channels to 3 kHz channels, expanding capacity to 80 telephone circuits.

Footnotes

References

External links

HMTS/CS ''Alert'' (4)Specimen of lightweight transatlantic telephone cable, 1961
1986 disestablishments in Canada Submarine communications cables in the North Atlantic Ocean Transatlantic communications cables Infrastructure completed in 1961 Canada–United Kingdom relations 1961 establishments in Canada 1961 establishments in Scotland 1986 disestablishments in Scotland {{Telecomm-stub