The Telegraph Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 88.) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It extended the

Telegraph Act 1868 The Telegraph Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c.110) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It paved the way for the British state to take over telegraph companies and/or their operations. It has been effectively repealed (only s.1, provi ...

to cover the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, thus allowing the British state to nationalise

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

companies in these territories. It gave orders to the Postmaster General to nationalize the

Jersey and Guernsey Telegraph Company JT Group Limited (doing business as JT) is the parent company of several subsidiaries including Jersey Telecom Limited and Wave Telecom Limited. Jersey Telecom is the former monopoly operator in the Bailiwick of Jersey. JT provides telecommunicat ...

and the

Isle of Man Electric Telegraph Company The Isle of Man has an extensive communications infrastructure consisting of telephone cables, submarine cables, and an array of television and mobile phone transmitters and towers. Telecommunications Telegraph The history of Manx telecommunicat ...

(the sale of which to the government had already been agreed in October 1868).''Archives information - Private Telegraph Companies'', British Telecom, May 2007, p. 4 The Act further makes clear that the Submarine Telegraph Company, which had laid a commercial submarine telegraph cable across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

in 1853, was not to be affected. The Act was introduced partly due to the efforts of William Henry Preece, who was chief engineer of the Jersey and Guernsey Telegraph Company and a major shareholder, and had campaigned on behalf of the Channel Islands' inclusion in the Act of 1868.''Sir William Preece F.R.S.'', E.C Baker, p. 184, Hutchinson, 1976 The Isle of Man Telegraph Company was

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

under the Act at a cost to the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

of £16,106.''Methods of Social Reform and Other Papers'', William Stanley Jevons, p. 357, BiblioLife, LLC, 2009. The shareholders received in total £11,774, which was approximately 160 times the worth of their holdings. The Jersey and Guernsey Telegraph Company was also purchased by the Government. The Act was modified in 1923 in order to clarify the fact that the legislation does not apply to the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

or any of its successors. Its provisions have been made essentially redundant by the

Telecommunications Act 1984 The Telecommunications Act 1984 (c 12) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The rules for the industry are now contained in the Communications Act 2003. Provisions The provisions of the act included the followi ...

, which allowed the Channel Islands' telecommunication companies to be privatized, leading to the creation of

Jersey Telecom JT Group Limited (doing business as JT) is the parent company of several subsidiaries including Jersey Telecom Limited and Wave Telecom Limited. Jersey Telecom is the former monopoly operator in the Bailiwick of Jersey. JT provides telecommunicat ...

Manx Telecom , logo = , caption = , type = Subsidiary , location_city = Braddan , location_country = Isle of Man , area_served = Worldwide , key_people = Gary Lamb Kevin Walsh , industry = Tel ...

and

Sure SuRe (The Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure) is a global voluntary standard which integrates key criteria of sustainability and resilience into infrastructure development and upgrade. It has been developed by the Swiss Global In ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

* Original text of the Act on the UK Office of Public Sector Information website

* Amended text of the Act on the UK Statute Law Database

Communications in the Isle of Man Communications in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1870 Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Guernsey Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Jersey Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the Isle of Man