The Iveragh Peninsula, on the southwest coast of Ireland, was one of the first to experiment with the laying of communications cables. Telegraph signals could be sent from station to station via cable, creating in effect the first instantaneous long-range communications network. Cables laid over the ground were much easier, however, then cables undersea, which took another century to become feasible.

On this day, September 25, in 1956, the first telephone system to run under the Atlantic was officially inaugurated. The TAT-1 ran between Oban, Scotland and Clarenville, Newfoundland, carrying 36 channels of telephone.

The Transatlantic No.1 cable was a joint project between the General Post Office of the UK, which did the actual cable laying, the American Telephone and Telegraph company, which supplied the repeaters to boost the signal along its lengthy journey and the Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corporation. The British received 40% of the shares in the venture, while 50% went to America and 10% to Canada. The total cost was about £120 million.