An historical perspective: WU Telegraph 1990 sale to A&TT of Routes and "electronic messaging" facilities
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A little over a month ago I sent a query to my colleague Albert LaFrance on the Compuserve Comms Forum immediately after posting the uplinked message # 325, above. Here is my question and Albert's reply. I remain indebted to Mr. LaFrance for the diligence and the level of work that he puts into these reports.
In the following passage and associated urls, note the then still-prevalent use of the terms "electronic messaging" and "electronic data interchange," or EDI, which have, for the most part, been replaced today by "email," and a variety of B2B software platform descriptors, respectively.
My Question:
"Albert,
... if I'm not mistaken, AT&T bought some routes along with WU's email and other electronic exchange services at the time. I believe that these routes were only in support of these two electronic messaging services, though. For some reason, 'Easylink' rings a bell... or something like that. Could it have been the old vestiges of TWX, too? Does anyone here remember TWX? What did happen to that service?
Regards, Frank"
And Albert's reply:
"Frank,
You're correct - in 1991, AT&T bought some WU facilities for its EasyLink service. An AT&T press release about the acquisiion is at:
att.com
EasyLink now appears to be the brand name for all of AT&T's messaging services (including Telex). It's part of AT&T IP Services, which has a web site at:
ipservices.att.com
I've seen the former WU facility in Middletown, VA. I'm told it currently houses servers for AT&T's commercial web-hosting clients. It's a large, modern one-story building, adjacent to two short self-supporting towers each with a pair of conical horns.
The following is from George P. Oslin's "The Story of Telecommunications" (p. 417):
"The U.S. Post Office Department and Western Union jointly started a Mailgram Service January 1, 1970 which telegraphed mail to area points from which messages were delivered by mail. In 1975, 22.6 million mailgrams were sent. In 1972 the company built a large computer switching center to handle all telegraph messages at Middletown, Virginia, and phased out its fifteen reperforator switching centers."
Middletown still has two licensed microwave routes, one terminating at the Monrovia, MD underground facility, and the other at the Waldorf, MD station.
...Albert"
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The following backbone map is taken from the ATT IP site url above. Grace, how does it compare to Home's? Second thought, never mind. It's too cluttered and obviously overlaps it, anyway.
ipservices.att.com
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For added historical perspective, as well as a list of some of the properties bought from WUT by AT&T at the time (some of which evolved into some of today's "carrier hotels") here's a templated press release form that was sent out in (x) states nine years ago:
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FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1991
DATELINE -- The stroke of midnight yesterday brought a new year and a new employer to some (State) residents.
On January 1, about XXX people in (towns) who had worked for Western Union's Business Services Group became employees of AT&T EasyLink Services, a new and important company in the growing field of electronic messaging services. AT&T completed a $180 million acquisition of assets from Western Union on New Year's Eve and immediately formed the new company to focus on meeting increased demands for such services.
Electronic messaging includes electronic mail among computer users, electronic business transactions called electronic data interchange, as well as telex and facsimile services. Such services are growing in importance because they allow people to conduct business without delays due to barriers of time and distance.
For the (State) workers, who are involved in (functions), the change gives them a chance to help shape the way businesses will communicate in the coming decade.
"Electronic messaging services are becoming the lifeline of business today," said (local manager name), (title). "They help our customers to be more competitive. As the ability to get and act quickly on information becomes more and more imperative, these services will skyrocket in importance.
"At AT&T EasyLink Services, our business will be to help our customers be successful through the use of these electronic messaging services," said (name). "We believe that quantum leaps in productivity and effectiveness will be made possible by the integration of messaging services and we are committed to delivering that competitive edge to our customers."
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AT&T EasyLink Services
MAJOR PRESENCE ACQUIRED FROM WESTERN UNION
CALIFORNIA
515 S. Figueroa, Los Angeles Sales 17 49 Geary St., San Francisco Sales 10
GEORGIA
56 Marietta St. NW, Atlanta Sales 110
Billing Collections
MISSOURI
12976 Hollenberg Dr., Bridgeton Customer Service 187
Technical Support Order Processing 12165 Bridgeton Sq.Dr., Bridgeton Sales 8
NEW JERSEY
1 Lake St., Upper Saddle River Executive Offices 188
Nat. Sales & Dist. Marketing International Oper. Comptroller 70&90 McKee Dr., Mahwah Engineering 197
U.S. Operations River Rd., Elmwood Park Sales 11
NEW YORK
67 Broad St., New York Operations 40
Sales 1 Penn Plaza, New York Sales 20 60 Hudson St., New York Operations 4
VIRGINIA
Rte. 11 South, Middletown Operations 102
TEXAS
4230 Alpha Rd., Dallas Sales 38
Telemarketing Houston Sales 10 LONDON, ENGLAND European Operations 21
OTHER KEY U.S. SALES OFFICES
Boston (Wellesley), Ma. 4 Chicago, Il. 9 Detroit (Southfield), Mi. 9 Miami, Fl. 11 Philadelphia, Pa. 6 San Juan, P.R. 7 Stamford, Ct. 8 Washington, D.C. 10 |
