El nacimiento del teléfono en España. Las dificultades del crecimiento de un nuevo sistema de comunicaciones, 1880 1924

Abstract

The article deals with the implantation of the telephone service in Spain, from its beginning until the monopoly of the Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España (CTNE), in 1924. It analyzes the role played by the private concessions, by the State –through the Post and Telegraph General Direction (DGCyT)– and by local governments (municipalities and county councils) in the development of the service, as well as the influence that ideological approaches of conservative and liberal governments had in the difficulties to find a feasible model that could meet the existing demand. The main contribution of the article is the detailed analysis of the precarious situation of the service in 1923, set out by types of the service owners as well as by regions.