The following is the first of a series of articles on the origin and use of the telephone in Mexico. The articles are the result of the translation of information acquired from the book entitled Avatares del Telefono en Mexico by Fatima Fernandez Christlieb. The book was copyrighted by Teleindustria Ericsson, S.A. de C.V. I would like to acknowledge and extend my appreciation to Sr. Jorge Arredondo, Director of Corporate Relations, Teleindustria Ericsson for providing me a copy of the manuscript and other contemporary research materials, including an annual Report of Operations. I would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Mrs. Celia Arredondo (no relation to Sr. Jorge Arredondo) for her diligent efforts in translating the manuscript.

Part 1 : The Origin of the Telephone in Mexico City

Laying of ducts for underground cables in the center of Mexico City in 1908.

The technological revolution of the 19th century transformed the lives of people throughout the world. Transportation, communication, and improvement in the standard of living were realized through such innovations as the iron horse, steam boat, electric lights, the phonograph, and the telephone. The far distances of our planet became within a hand's reach. Of all the inventions, the telephone had enormous repercussions; one of them, without a doubt, consists of facilitating live voice communication across various distances. 

When Alexander Graham Bell conducted research on helping deaf people hear, it is quite probable that he did not imagine that the outcome of his persistence would bring about the telephone or the transmission of sound through conducting wires. Nevertheless, by 1876, his experiment soared from invention to a revolution in communication.

In 1880, the Minister of Communication of Mexico granted the first concession for telephone use. A telephone line was set up at a telegraph office on Coliseo Street and ran to a subsidiary at Tlelpan, the most distant city within the federal district of old Mexico City.

In 1883, the first international long distance conference from Mexico was realized between the cities of Matamoros in the state of Tamaulipas and Brownsville, Texas (where the mouth of the Rio Grande River opens into the Gulf of Mexico). By 1891, the telephone had been established in the following cities of Mexico: Guadalajara, Matamoros, Puebla, Oaxaca, Merida, and Veracruz. In addition, the first telephone directory was published in Mexico City. No doubt that early telephone directory, and those that followed, provided not only a list of individual subscribers, but a view of the emergence of a modem, changing Mexico. The price of a new line in 1891 was six pesos and a quarter (peseta) a month for lines of a kilometer or less in length. Installation was ten pesos. 

The first directory says something very quaint: "Every subscriber has the right to talk with all others whenever he wants and with utmost secrecy", which could be certain if instead of mentioning the name of the person one would say his number. It was also advertised that the telephone office would stay open every day including Sundays and holidays.

Operator with manual switchboard

Many illustrious subscribers appeared in the first directory including Jose Ives Lumantour, House Minister; Ignacios Mariscal, of Relations; the capitalist Gabriel Mancera; and Pedro Santacilia, son-in-law of Benito Juarez. It is interesting that Don Portirio Diaz does not appear on the list, nor the surnames of the ancient conservators, but those of businessmen and liberals, in general, people more permeable to the novelty of the world.

Among the telephones that existed there were the long distance phone for the wall and the long distance phone for the desks (at the right, circa 1881), which was nickel plated and movable from place to place. There was also a revolving long distance phone for the desk, stuck to the edge of the desk by a rectangular tube which permitted it to revolve to all sides of the desk. 

There were different services. One was called "Land Circuits ("Circuito de Tierra")" and was composed of one line from the house of the subscriber to the electric switch at the telephone central. The circuit was complete by grounding the two ends of the line. The other service was called "Metallic Circuits ("Circuito Metalico")" which was a system that employed two lines instead of one, and was not grounded.

By 1901, the number of doctors with telephones were almost fifty and there were no less than six public telephones installed in Mexico City. The public telephones could be found at two different grocery stores, a drug store, the post office, the railroad station, and a local bar known as "la cantina de Quintana". I wonder which phone was most often in use. The phone at the railroad station, right?? A modest fee was paid to use the public telephone. The actual amount was not disclosed in the text.

By 1928, fifty years after the establishment of the Mexican Telephone Company, the manual telephone exchange was replaced with automatic public telephones. The calls cost five cents (cinco centavos). Ericsson Company was the number one telephone company with over 700 employees including operators and laborers. The Ericsson was in competition with the Mexican Telephone Company. The price for telephone calls would depend on the distance of the call, and the company providing the service. Calls from Mexico City to Ensenada, Baja California cost twenty pesos.

A call from Mexico City to Guadalajara would be more or less four pesos.