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The British Contribution to Subsea Telecommunications

Duration: 1 hr 47 mins
Publication date: 24 Apr 2026
Part of series IET Friday Lunchtime Lectures

Abstract

The British Contribution to Subsea Telecommunications

The manufacture and operation of submarine systems themselves, the ships that laid them, the transmission technology and leading pioneers of the industry from the 19th Century to the present day.

Channels

Communities

Communities

Communications

Communications

Speakers

Bill Burns

Bill Burns is a former BBC engineer whose interest in the history of telecommunications led to his creation of the https://atlantic-cable.com website in 1994. His research into submarine cable history has taken him to all of the surviving telegraph cable stations around the world, and to archives and museums in North America and Europe. He has presented papers at a number of conferences and is currently a technical consultant to the World Heritage Site project for the Atlantic cable installations in Ireland and Newfoundland.
Stewart Ash

Stewart Ash joined STC Submarine Systems as a development engineer, then moved to field engineering, becoming Shipboard Installation Manager. In 1986, he set up a new division installing fibre optic systems. He joined Cable & Wireless Marine in 1993, becoming General Manager of Global Marine Systems Ltd’s engineering division in 1999. He chaired the Universal Joint Consortium until 2005. Now an independent consultant, his interest in the industry’s history began in 2000 and subsequently, he has written extensively on the subject.