Page 66 - Remembering ISTEL
P. 66
Remembering ISTEL
CDC - Communicating Across All Sites
In 1968, Austin Morris realised that telephone calls between their sites, of
which there were approximately twenty, were costing the company a great
deal in Post Office charges and could be avoided with the a private microwave
radio network.
Initially, the second option of
Micro-wave radio appeared
financially prohibitive, until
Austin Morris were approached
by Pye Telecommunications
who had some suitable
microwave radio equipment at
a realistic price, available on the
shelf after the cancellation of an
overseas order. Pye also offered
the use of a radio repeater site
at Christmas Common, just
north of Reading, which gave
the opportunity to Austin
Morris to connect the London
Headquarters to.
Austin Morris decided to adopt
this option and established the
first private microwave
network in Great Britain,
providing communication
between London, Cowley,
Longbridge and some Midland
sites.
The network was switched into service in 1970 and operated unchanged until
1976 when, after the merger of the various car companies under the British
Leyland banner, the microwave network became the responsibility of
Corporate Headquarters London.
BL management recognised that they had a valuable asset in this microwave
network, but also realised that with the changes in the BL companies, site
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