Editing Telecommunications in Australia (section)

===At Federation (1901)===
At Federation, the colonial networks (staff, switches, wires, handsets, buildings etc.) were transferred to the Commonwealth [[Postmaster-General's Department]] responsible for domestic postal, telephone and, telegraph services becoming the responsibility of the first Postmaster-General (PMG), a federal. With 16,000 staff (and assets of over £6 million) the PMG accounted for 80% of the new federal bureaucracy.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

[[Payphone|Public phones]] were available in a handful of post offices. Subscriber telephones were initially restricted to major businesses, government agencies, institutions and wealthier residences. Eight million telegrams were sent that year over 43,000 miles of line.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

There were around 33,000 phones across Australia, with 7,502 telephone subscribers in inner [[Sydney]] and 4,800 in the [[Melbourne central business district]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Overseas cable links to Australia remained in private hands, reflecting the realities of imperial politics, demands on the new government's resources, and perceptions of its responsibilities.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}