IN 1869, JOHN Pender created the British Indian Submarine Telegraph Company with the intention of laying a cable to India. By 1870 it was complete and in 1872 the British Indian was one of the companies merged by John Pender to form the Eastern Telegraph Company. By 1877 the British Indian Submarine had 60% of telegram traffic to India and 80% from India to China, Java and Australia. In 1878 a Joint Purse agreement between the British Indian, the Indo-European and the Indian Government was made.
By the time of the First World War, the Eastern operated six out of the nine lines of communication with India and the Far East. During the war, the upsurge of traffic and inoperability of the Indo-European land-lines which passed through enemy territory led to traffic with India and the Far East being transferred to the Eastern Telegraph Company.
