Telecommunication
The conventional telephone was invented independently by Alexander Bell and Elisha Gray in 1876. Antonio Meucci invented the first device that allowed the electrical transmission of voice over a line in 1849. However Meucci's device was of little practical value because it relied upon the electrophonic effect and thus required users to place the receiver in their mouth to "hear" what was being said. The first commercial telephone services were set-up in 1878 and 1879 on both sides of the Atlantic in the cities of New Haven and London.
Compagnie générale de la télégraphie sans fil
From the mid-19th century the world was connected with an increasingly dense network of telegraph wires and submarine cables.
In 1887 Heinrich Hertz of Germany conclusively proved the existence of electromagnetic waves.
Alexander Stepanovich Popov of Russia developed antennas to transmit and receive radio waves.
Scientists such as Édouard Branly and Nikola Tesla also contributed to development of the concepts.
In 1895 Guglielmo Marconi, a student at the University of Bologna, invented wireless telegraphy.
In 1897 he founded the Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company in England.
Its subsidiary the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America was formed in the US in 1899.
The Telefunken company was created in Germany in 1903 as a joint venture of Siemens and AEG.