The "Forgotten" Microwave Relay System

[Webster]

America's first wireless communication network, known as the Microwave Radio Skyway, launched in the 1950s and transformed our ability to communicate long-distance. Over half a century later, however, technology has advanced to the point that vast amounts of old infrastructure, including hundreds of towers, have simply been abandoned. In today's video, we will look at what remains.

Chapters:
00:00 - How your grandparents made wireless phone calls
00:47 - The history of long-distance “Relay” communication systems
03:18 - The History of early telephone technology
05:36 - The Unexpected side effects of telephone technology
07:47 - Nikola Tesla’s World Wireless system
09:00 - How Guglielmo Marconi successfully implemented wireless communication
10:22 - America’s first wireless communication system
13:40 - How AT&T’s Microwave Skyway Network Changed the World
15:37 - When fiberoptic wires replaced Microwave networks
16:55 - What remains of AT&T’s abandoned skyway network

 

[DrLeftover]

There are a few still in use.

But the equipment itself is aging out and either too expensive to replace, or unavailable.

A local TV station just did away with their link for that very reason.