World Telecommunication Day 2023: 135 year old telephone that still works!

Let's take a look at a 135-year-old telephone, still in working condition, in a house in Patna, Bihar, on the occasion of World Telecommunications Day.

Patna (Bihar): Remember the time when a telephone in the house would be the topic of discussion in the entire locality? This was way before the introduction of 4G or 5G, or even the internet for that matter. In the era of Android, where everything and everyone is available in one touch, does one miss the time when a phone ring inside the house would make people go through a range of emotions due to the expectations and excitement it would build? An era where kids in the house would race each other to figure out who would pick up the phone first might sound like a fantasy to children nowadays but in reality, the telecommunication industry did evolve very quickly from its inception.

Abhishek Patrick, a resident of Patna, Bihar, has one such memento from the initial era of the telecommunication industry. Patrick's house has a standing telephone made from brass and wood originally made in the USA in 1888, making the telephone almost 135 years old. The telephone has been restored and preserved through generations and is still in working condition. Patrick's residence is also home to various dial telephones issued by the Government of India in the year 1967-68, which is also in working condition.

Patrick says that the 135-year-old phone, manufactured by the company Ericsson, works well, but it still needs a lot of attention and care, as it is a rare item and finding parts for its repair would not be easy if it gets damaged. The other dial telephones installed in Patrick's house were issued by the Government of India, and Patrick claims that he doesn't even remember when the phones were installed and that they have always been there in the house.

On June 2, 1875, Graham Bell connected the entire world through a wire with his invention of the Telephone, which made it possible to talk to people no matter how far they were in this world. Five years after its invention, the Telephone found its way to India in 1881 through the Oriental Telephone Company Limited, established in England in 1881. Kolkata, Bombay, and Madras became the early subscribers of telephone services, along with a telephone exchange in Ahmedabad. On January 28, 1882, formal telephone services were started in India for the first time, with a total of 93 subscribers all around the country.