Polish Telephone Joint-Stock Company

Polish Telephone Joint-Stock Company
Native name
Polska Akcyjna Spółka Telefoniczna
Company typeJoint-stock company
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedJuly 1, 1922 (1922-07-01)
Defunct1948 (1948)
HeadquartersPAST Building,
Warsaw
,
Poland
OwnerGovernment of Poland

Polish Telephone Joint-Stock Company (Polish: Polska Akcyjna Spółka Telefoniczna) was a Polish telecommunications company headquartered in Warsaw active during the Second Polish Republic's existence.

History

The Swedish-owned company Cedergren won a tender in 1900 to expand the Warsaw telephone network. A mixed state-private company established on July 1, 1922[1] as joint venture of the Government of Poland and with the license of the Swedish Cedergren Telephone Company.[2][3] It received a license for 25 years, until 1947.[4] As a result of negotiations, the State Treasury and Cedergren each acquired 3/7 of the shares, and 1/7 of the shares were designated for sale to private individuals (they were later also purchased by the Swedish shareholder).[4]

PAST's headquarters were located in the former "Cedergren" headquarters at 37 Zielna Street, which, together with the adjacent building belonging to the Swedish company (no. 39), became known as PAST.

The company operated in Warsaw (network contributed by "Cedergren") and in Lviv, Łódź, Lublin, Białystok, and the Sosnowiec-Dąbrowa Górnicza Basin and the Borysław Basin (networks contributed by the State Treasury).[4] In Warsaw, due to the growing demand for telephone services, it created a network consisting of six automatic exchanges, located at Zielna Street 39, Piusa XI Street 19, Brzeska Street 24, A. Felińskiego Street 39, and Tłomackie street 10, among others.[5][6] Telephone call meters were introduced, along with significant fee increases, which sparked customer protests.[7]

At the end of 1930, the number of subscribers in Warsaw reached 44,200.[8] In 1939, all Warsaw Telephone exchanges had a capacity of 90,000. numbers, and approximately 75,000 subscribers were connected to them.[4] In 1935, the intercity exchange was moved from the building at 37 Zielna Street to a new building at 45 Nowogrodzka Street.[7] PAST also built a telephone exchange building in Łódź.

In 1934, a clock synchronized with the clock at the Warsaw Astronomical Observatory was launched, and in 1937, an Order Office was opened.[7] In 1939, the company employed 1,080 people in Warsaw.[2]

After Warsaw's capitulation following the Invasion of Poland in September 1939, 1,850 telephones were in operation in the partially destroyed city by January 4, 1940.[9] On October 1, 1940, the company came under the management of Deutsche Post Osten.[10] Some employees were laid off, and new employment contracts with the remaining employees were signed on less favorable terms.[10] During World War II, PAST's telephone exchanges in Warsaw were 100% destroyed, and its cable telephone networks were 70% destroyed.[11] After the war, with the establishment of the Polish People's Republic, the company's assets became state property in 1948 and incorporated into Polska Poczta, Telegraf i Telefon.[2]

See also

  • Media related to Polska Akcyjna Spółka Telefoniczna at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. ^ "140 lat telefonów w Warszawie". dzjeje.pl. 2022-07-14. Retrieved 2025-09-15.
  2. ^ a b c Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. 1994. p. 656. ISBN 83-01-08836-2.
  3. ^ Drozdowski, Marian Marek. Warszawa w latach 1914−1939. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. p. 321. ISBN 83-01-08690-4.
  4. ^ a b c d Janczewski, Henryk (1971). Warszawa. Geneza i rozwój inżynierii miejskiej. Warszawa: Arkady. p. 457.
  5. ^ Mączewski, Ryszard (2009). Warszawa między wojnami. Łódź: Księży Młyn. p. 43. ISBN 978-83-61253-51-8.
  6. ^ Pawłowski, Tomasz; Zieliński, Jarosław (2008). Żoliborz. Przewodnik historyczny. Warszawa: Rosner & Wspólnicy. p. 460. ISBN 978-83-60336-27-4.
  7. ^ a b c Drozdowski, Marian Marek. Warszawa w latach 1914−1939. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. p. 322. ISBN 83-01-08690-4.
  8. ^ Drozdowski, Marian Marek (1973). Warszawiacy i ich miasto w latach Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej. Warszawa: Wiedza Powszechna. p. 159.
  9. ^ Szarota, Tomasz (2010). Okupowanej Warszawy dzień powszedni. Studium historyczne. Warszawa: Czytelnik. p. 256. ISBN 978-83-07-03239-9.
  10. ^ a b Ratyńska, Barbara (1982). Ludność i gospodarka Warszawy i okręgu pod okupacją hitlerowską. Książka i Wiedza. p. 411.
  11. ^ Janczewski, Henryk (1971). Warszawa. Geneza i rozwój inżynierii miejskiej. Warszawa: Arkady. p. 458.
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