Communications reliability: a historical perspective

This paper traces the development of communication reliability from the early days of microwave transmission through the present day of the Internet and World Wide Web. It discusses the notable contributions by the telephone service providers to supply essentially continuous service. The communication industry has evolved to having individual hardware, software and system providers forming consortiums to supply high availability combined voice, data and media communication. A growing concern in 1998 is that the, "worldwide communication industry is rampaging ahead and metamorphosing so rapidly as to defy comprehension" (Reizeman 1998).