Anniversary of historic phone call
Updated on 05 December 2008
Telephone engineers involved in the first long-distance phone call made without the help of an operator will be among those marking the 50th anniversary of the event.
The call was made by the Queen on December 5, 1958 from the central telephone exchange in Bristol, to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh.
The Queen began the call with the words: "This is the Queen speaking from Bristol. Good afternoon, my Lord Provost."
Engineers who worked in the industry at the time will re-enact the call in Bristol today, but they will use the latest BT video-conferencing technology, to see as well as talk to staff in Edinburgh.
BT said the original call was a "major milestone" in the history of telecommunications in the UK, allowing people in Bristol to dial other parts of the country without the aid of a telephone operator.
Brian Fox, who had only finished his engineering apprenticeship three months beforehand, stood a few feet from the Queen when she made the historic call. "It was one of the most important days ever in telecommunications history and a huge amount of work went into making sure the day went without a hitch," he said.
"The walkway from Telephone Avenue was tented and full of flowers and a powder room for the Queen was hastily provided in a converted control room. We stood between rows of equipment as close as we could get and watched Her Majesty dial the number. When it was all over and the Queen was leaving the Duke of Edinburgh remarked, 'you can relax now chaps, it all works'."
David Hay, head of heritage at the BT Group, said: "From those humble beginnings, communications technology has moved on at a rapid pace and we now live in a world with high speed internet, digital television and mobile telephony, all of which are taken for granted.
"This anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate the tremendous technological successes achieved in the past and present, which are transforming all of our lives.
"Who knows what technology will be used fifty years from now when people celebrate the 100th anniversary of the UK's first long-distance direct call?"
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