Commercial Pacific Cable Company

Before this, messages had to travel across the Atlantic to the Far East via Cape Town and the Indian Ocean, or via London to Russia, then across the Russian landline to Vladivostok, then by submarine cable to Japan and the Philippines.

In 1906 Siemens AG made and laid the section from Guam to Bonin Islands in the Japanese archipelago.

[1] In the First World War, the trans-Pacific service slowed significantly from repeated faults and the general increase in war-related traffic.

Despite repeated requests by United States businesses and the Federal government, the company would not invest in improvements to increase traffic volume or speed.

Over a million dollars was spent on repairs, but the company was unable to maintain a viable service and stopped operating in 1951.