A preliminary study of the telephone network in Northern Vietnam

Abstract

Northern Vietnam was a strategic region with rich natural resources and a dense population. In the Northern provinces, there were quite convenient road and waterway transportation routes, especially the waterway running along the Red River to the Upper Tonking. These logistic networks allowed the French colonialists to advance deep into southern China. Thus, Tonkin’s location was essential for the survival of French colonial rule in Indochina. During the operation of the French rule in northern Vietnam, communication contributed greatly to the process of invasion and pacification. Despite coming late compared to the telegraph and post office, the telephone system had the advantage of being fast and convenient to meet both military requirements and promote the colonial exploitation project. Until now, research on Vietnamese society during the French colonial period has attracted the attention of many scholars at home and abroad, but little has been done about Tonking’s telephone network. This article aims to examine the telephone network between 1925 and 1929 in terms of its formation, the number of telephone subscribers, regulations for usage, and installation of public and private telephones in Tonkin.