(
Trans
ATlantic
-1) The first cross-ocean telephone cable was laid between Scotland and Newfoundland in the mid-1950s. A joint venture between AT&T, the General Post Office in the U.K. and the Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Company. One cable was used for each direction.
First Transatlantic Cable
The first cable was for telegraph signals, not telephone. Deployed by the Atlantic Telegraph Company, the "Submarine Telegraph" was launched in 1854 from Ireland and reached Newfoundland four years later (red arrows). Queen Victoria sent the first telegraph to congratulate President James Buchanan. See
telegraph.