IN 1873 TWO new telegraph companies were formed, the Brazilian Submarine Telegraph Company and the Western and Brazilian Telegraph Company. They had two main objectives – to connect the main ports along the Brazilian coasts and to link them in turn with Great Britain and Europe. Brazilian Submarine had the concession for the cable to Europe and the Western and Brazilian for the coastal cables but they worked closely together and transmitted each other’s traffic. In 1899 they were merged to form the Western Telegraph Company.
