IN 1868 the Anglo-Mediterranean Telegraph Company was formed and laid the first direct cable from Malta to Alexandria. This cable was to become the central link in the system linking Britain and India. ‘The Times’ of 17th September 1868 reported:
‘The progress of the expedition which has left England to lay the Anglo-Mediterranean cable cannot fail to be watched with considerable interest, inasmuch as the completion of the line will duplicate our means of communication with Egypt, and will also constitute a most important adjunct to our agencies for corresponding with our Indian empire.’
The Mediterranean cable laid in 1868 was linked to India by the British Indian Submarine Telegraph Company and to Britain by John Pender’s Falmouth Gibraltar and Malta Telegraph Company.
The company ordered a 900 mile long cable from John Pender’s cable-making company ‘Telcon’ (Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company). It was designed to be suitable for laying on the deep seabed of the Mediterranean between Malta and Alexandria.
Certificate of Incorporation, dated 18th May, 1868.
