Postal Telegraph and Telephone
Encyclopedia
A postal, telegraph, and telephone service (or PTT) is a government
agency
responsible for postal mail
, telegraph, and telephone
services. Such monopolies
existed in many countries, though not in North America
or Japan
. Many PTTs have been partially or completely privatized
in recent years. In some of those privatizations, the PTT was renamed completely, whereas in others, the name of the privatized corporation has been only slightly modified, such as PTT Telecom in Indonesia
.
. In many countries with a current or former PTT, the PTT also was responsible for the manufacture and standardization of telephone equipment. Often the presence of a single PTT in a country implied a single monolithic approach to the distribution of information in that country, which as an advantage permitted efficient deployment of a single national standard for each topic instead of on-going debate about competing ideas, but which as a disadvantage typically stifled alternative ideas from emerging once a legacy implementation had been widely deployed.
there was the private monopoly Bell System
in telecommunications and a separate federally-run US Postal Service/Canada Post
for mail
delivery. Portugal
, until 1968, had a mixture, with private telecoms operators in Lisbon
and Porto
, and Correios, Telefones e Telégrafos
, a public company, as the owner of the telephone system in the rest of the country (including the former colonies
). CTT still controls the mail, while Portugal Telecom
was spun out from 1989 and is partly privatized and subject to competition.
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
agency
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
responsible for postal mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
, telegraph, and telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
services. Such monopolies
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
existed in many countries, though not in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
or Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Many PTTs have been partially or completely privatized
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
in recent years. In some of those privatizations, the PTT was renamed completely, whereas in others, the name of the privatized corporation has been only slightly modified, such as PTT Telecom in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Monopoly service
In countries that had a PTT unit of government, typically the vast majority of forms of distribution of information fell under the auspices of the PTT, whether that be the delivery of printed publications and individual letters in the postal mail, the transmission of telephonic audio, or the transmission of telegraphic on-off signals, and in some countries, the broadcast of one-way (audio) radio and (audio-video) television signalsTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. In many countries with a current or former PTT, the PTT also was responsible for the manufacture and standardization of telephone equipment. Often the presence of a single PTT in a country implied a single monolithic approach to the distribution of information in that country, which as an advantage permitted efficient deployment of a single national standard for each topic instead of on-going debate about competing ideas, but which as a disadvantage typically stifled alternative ideas from emerging once a legacy implementation had been widely deployed.
Mixed service
In North America, instead of a PTTPTT
PTT may refer to:Chemistry and medicine:* Partial thromboplastin time, a performance indicator in medicine for coagulation status* Photothermal Therapy, A method of using light and photosensitizers for medical treatments...
there was the private monopoly Bell System
Bell System
The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
in telecommunications and a separate federally-run US Postal Service/Canada Post
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
for mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
delivery. Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, until 1968, had a mixture, with private telecoms operators in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
, and Correios, Telefones e Telégrafos
CTT
thumb|200px|right|A CTT mail delivery vehiclethumb|200px|right|A CTT traditional mail boxCTT Correios de Portugal, S.A.—meaning Postal Services of Portugal, plc—is the national postal service of Portugal. The acronym CTT comes from Correios, Telégrafos e Telefones—Post, Telegraph and Telephone—the...
, a public company, as the owner of the telephone system in the rest of the country (including the former colonies
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
). CTT still controls the mail, while Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and...
was spun out from 1989 and is partly privatized and subject to competition.
Further reading
- OECDOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade...
, Universal Service and Rate Restructuring in Telecommunications, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Publishing, 1991. ISBN 9264134972