Microwave Technology

[NW Mailing List]

Today's Sprint wireless system grew out of a simliar microwave  
communications sytem built by the Southern Pacific RR.  SP had extra  
capacity, so it started selling time on the system to businesses  
along its routes.  Sprint itself was originally owned by SP, but SP  
sold it because they realized that it would need more investment to  
compete than SP could put into it.  (Not so long ago, SP was one of  
the nations more innovative RRs, believe it or not!)

pete groom
On Apr 4, 2007, at 5:36 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

To read some of the postings on this  site you would assume that before
Sputnik we were living in the stone age as far as communication was
concerned.  In the 1950's  General Electric developed and installed a
microwave relay telephone system connecting the entire Southern Railway
System, which they still maintain for Norfolk Southern to this day. When
I came to Gainesville in 1956 there was a microwave relay tower with two
dishes  on top  which was visible about a quarter of a mile north of the
depot.   Sputnik, Shmutnik indeed.  Bill Sellers.

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