Direct-dial tranatlantic phone callsIn 1970, direct-dial transatlantic telephone service was opened to the public for calls between the US and Britain by the collaboration of AT&T and the British Post Office (which operated the U.K. telephone system.) The former rate was reduced by one-third. The new service was the first major intercontinental dialing system. Intelsat III satellites handled 1,200 telephone circuits per satellite. Five of these 322-lb satellites had been put in service in synchronous orbits over the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans in 1968-70, a major expansion from the older 85-pound Early Bird satellite capacity of 240 circuits. Satellites links use microwave beams. Signals received from one ground station, are amplified by the solar-cell powered satellite and are able to be transmitted to a ground station on another continent.« |
