CONCLUSIONES Y RECOMENDACIONES

The concept of tele-communicating appears to be as old as the history of mankind.

Prior to the emergence of modern telecommunications technologies, human beings

47 „Technological neutrality‟ is a regulatory principle that implies that legislation should define the objectives to be achieved and should neither impose, nor discriminate in favour of, the use of a particular type of technology to achieve those objectives. See European Commission, „Towards a New Framework for Electronic Communications Infrastructure and Associated Services, The 1999 Communications Review‟, European Commission, COM (1999) p. 539. See also C Reed, ‘The Law of Unintended Consequences – Embedded Business Models in IT Regulation‟, (2007) 2 Journal of Information Law and Technology, 2; A Sharpe, „Communications Technologies Services, and Markets‟ in I Walden (ed), Telecommunications Law and Regulation (3rd edn, New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) p.53.

48 The Nigerian Communications Act 2003 s. 157. See also The Electronic Communications Act of the Republic of Ghana 2008 s. 101; Telecommunications Act of South Africa 1996 (as amended) s.1.

employed several means to convey messages over long distances. Some of the prominent means of tele-communicating in ancient societies were through smoke signals and talking drums. However, only a very limited range of pre-determined messages could be conveyed through these means. For example, in some ancient African societies a smoke signal could only be used to indicate the location of a camp or to send out a distress (SOS) signal.⁴⁹ The talking drum was usually deployed to summon the gathering of the members of a community.⁵⁰ In the ancient Greek society, there were remarkable attempts to develop an advanced system of telecommunicating through the invention of the Greek hydraulic semaphore systems around the 4^th Century B.C. The Greek hydraulic semaphore systems functioned as optical telegraphs which worked with water filled vessels and visual signs.⁵¹ Another notable attempt at the development of advanced telecommunications systems took place during the middle ages in Europe. During that period, chains of beacons were constructed on hilltops and used as a means of transmitting signals. However, this system of telecommunication like the Greek hydraulic semaphore systems and could only transmit a signal whose meanings have earlier been agreed to by both the parties transmitting the signal and the one receiving it.⁵² The last decade of the 18^th Century A.D also recorded a significant milestone in the development of advanced telecommunications systems following the development of optical telegraph

49 History World, „History of Communication‟, available at <http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/

plaintexthistoris.asp?historyid=aa93> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

50 A I Good, „Drum Talk Is the African‟s “Wireless”‟, Natural History, (September 1942),available at

<http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/editors_pick/ 1942_09_ pick.html> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

51 „Morse Code & the Telegraph‟ available at <http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/telegraph> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

52 „The hydraulic telegraph of Aeneas – long-distance communication of antiquity‟ available at

<http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-technology/hydraulic-telegraph-aeneas-long-distance-communication-antiquity-002185#sthash.A7pX1GE1.dpuf> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

systems or semaphore lines in Europe by Claude Chappe a French engineer around 1792.⁵³

The 19^th Century can be described as the turning point in the development of advanced telecommunications systems. Around 1837, two Englishmen Sir Charles Wheatstone and Sir William Cooke made a breakthrough in the development of the electrical telegraph technology for which they received a patent in the same year.⁵⁴ The Great Western Railway subsequently used the system to introduce a public telegram service between London and West Drayton (13 miles west of London) in 1839. One of the major challenges of the system was that it proved to be expansive as it required five wires to transmit a single signal.⁵⁵ In 1837, an American painter Samuel P.B. Morse also developed and patented another version of the electric telegraph. Samuel Morse‟s invention used a simple and highly efficient system of universal digital codes known as the „Morse Code‟ for the transmission and reception of signals over electric telegraph cables. The invention provided a faster means of communication as experienced telegraph operators could pass messages at around 40-50 words per minute.⁵⁶ The invention revolutionalized telecommunications and marked the beginnings of the modern information revolution.⁵⁷ The efficiency and cost effective nature of the Morse Code naturally gave it a competitive advantage over earlier telegraph inventions and following its commercialization, the first commercially successful trans–Atlantic telegraph cable

53 „Morse Code & the Telegraph‟ available at <http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/telegraph> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

54 A Sharpe, „Communications Technologies Services, and Markets‟ in I Walden (ed), Telecommunications Law and Regulation (3rd edn, New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) p.33.

55 A Sharpe, Ibid.

56 A Sharpe, „Communications Technologies Services, and Markets‟ in I Walden (ed), Telecommunications Law and Regulation (3rd edn, New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) p.33.

57 U J Orji, Cybersecurity Law and Regulation (Nijmegen, The Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2012) p.1.

was completed on 27 July, 1866, and trans- Atlantic telecommunications became possible for the first time.⁵⁸

Following the developments in telegraphy was the invention of the voice telephony technology around the 1870‟s. The first patent of the telephone was granted to Alexander Graham Bell a Scottish scientist on 7 March, 1876 by the United States Patent Office.⁵⁹ The invention of the telephone was followed by the development of the wireless telegraphy system which is also known as radiotelegraphy or the radio communications by Gulielmo Marconi an Italian scientist in 1901.⁶⁰ The development of wireless telegraphy also gave rise to the emergence of widespread radio broadcasting also known as mass communication.

The 20^th Century witnessed several milestones in the development of telecommunications technologies. Following the development of radiography a Scottish inventor John Logie Baird developed a radio system for transmitting moving pictures from location to another in 1925.⁶¹ Another notable milestone in the history of telecommunications was the development and deployment of communications satellites in the 1950s.⁶² Other notable milestones in the history of the evolution telecommunications include: the development of the mobile telephony system by the

58Telephonetribute.com, „Timeline of Telecommunications‟, available at

<http://www.telephonetribute.com/timeline.html>.

59 „Alexander Graham Bell‟ available at <http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/alexander-graham-bell> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

60 „Guglielmo Marconi‟, available at <http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/guglielmo-marconi> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

61 „John Logie Baird: Biography Engineer, Inventor (1888–1946)‟ available at

<http://www.biography.com/people/john-logie-baird-9195738> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

62 NASA, „The Early Satellites‟ (2 April, 2004) available at <http://www.nasa.gov/missions/science/f-satellites.html> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

American Telephone & Telegraph Corporation (AT&T) in 1947⁶³; the development of the first generation of electronic computers⁶⁴; and the development of packet switching technology which allows packets of electronic data to be sent between different computers without first passing through a centralized mainframe computer. ⁶⁵ The further development of the packet switching technology by the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) a military telecommunications network⁶⁶ enabled different computer systems to be connected for the purpose of transmitting communications between the computer systems of academic and military institutions in the United States. The ARPANET communications system laid the foundations for the emergence of the Internet.⁶⁷

The 20^th century also witnessed several other important technological advancements that brought about the increasing convergence of telecommunications and computer technologies.⁶⁸ These developments in telecommunications have created a state of affairs that has been described as the “techno crescendo of information revolution dreams”⁶⁹ and also marks beginnings of a modern era known as the Information age.⁷⁰ This era has also continued to evolve with several technological advances in the 21^st century. A very distinctive feature of the present information age is the continuous convergence of telecommunications and computer technologies and the widespread integration of those

63 „Mile Stones in AT&T History‟ available at<http://www.thocp.net/companies/att/att_company.htm

64 U J Orji, Cybersecurity Law and Regulation (The Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2012) p.4.

65 L G Roberts „The Evolution of Packet Switching‟ available at <http://www.packet.cc/files/ev-packet-sw.html> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

66 B M Leiner, et al, „Brief History of the Internet‟, <http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet> last accessed on 30 March, 2016.

67 B M Leiner, et al, Ibid.

68 U J Orji, Cybersecurity Law and Regulation (The Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2012) pp.1-7.

69 M Dunn, A Comparative Analysis of Cybersecurity Initiatives Worldwide, World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Thematic Meeting on Cybersecurity (Geneva: ITU, June 2005) p.5.

70 U J Orji, Ibid, p.2.

technologies into most products, services and facilities that are basic necessities in modern human societies. This is also seen in the widespread integration of telecommunications technologies in most critical services in the public and private sectors of modern societies. There has also been an increasing deployment of telecommunications technologies to tackle pressing development challenges and create channels for effective service delivery through several applications such as E-Government, E-Education, Tele-medicine and E-health. Hence, telecommunications technologies have evolved from their very modest beginnings to become a vital component of every modern society.

The widespread deployment of telecommunications technologies and infrastructure in most aspects of modern life has given rise to the concept of the Information Society or Global Information Society. The information society exists universally due to the transnational and global spread of modern telecommunications networks which arises from the interconnectedness of networks in countries into one global network society.⁷¹ This has effectively brought about the death of distance as the world today is simply seen as a global village or single community connected by electronic and telecommunications systems sometimes called the „global information infrastructure‟.⁷²

Telecommunications provide the backbone of the information society. Thus, telecommunications networks connect all forms of electronic communications devices ranging from fixed telephones, mobile phones, smart phones, personal data assistants, tracking devices to computer systems. Telecommunications networks also provide the

71 U J Orji, Cybersecurity Law and Regulation (The Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2012) p.8.

72 OECD, „Global Information Infrastructure and Global Information Society (GII-GIS): Statement of Policy Recommendations Made by the ICCP Committee‟, (1996) 18 OECD Digital Economy Papers.

linkage for the connection of computers, computer systems and electronic databases located all over the world, thus creating the global information infrastructure that is known as the Internet. As such, telecommunications networks create the backbone infrastructure for the exchange of information or communications between electronic devices which may either be computers or other telecommunications devices.⁷³

1.11 An Overview of Major Telecommunications Systems