Telecommunications in Bulgaria include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
Until the mid-1930s, telephone exchanges were of the "numberer" type, i.e. manually operated by telephone operators. The introduction of the first automatic telephone exchanges (ATC) in Bulgaria began with the installation of ATCs by the Siemens-Halske company, first in Stara Zagora (1935 - 600 numbers), then in Varna and Ruse (also 1935, 1000 numbers each). The first ATC in Sofia ("Levov Most" - 2000 numbers) was put into operation on June 14, 1936, followed by Gabrovo, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo. After 1938, Nikola Rashev was the leader on the Bulgarian side. In the years around 1940, there was already a significant number of well-trained personnel in the country and the new equipment was being successfully operated.
The telephone house in Sofia was built according to a design by Stancho Belkovski and Boris Yolov. Its construction began in 1938-1939 and was finally completed only in 1949. It housed the facilities of the Sofia ATC, as well as the relevant administrative premises. This was the first telephone hall building, but later such buildings housing local ATCs were built in other large cities of Bulgaria.
During the bombing of Sofia in 1943-44, telephone communications in the capital were severely affected. On 09.09.1944, the new government found in Sofia only one temporary city manual telephone exchange with about 180 posts and also a temporary intercity exchange for several lines to larger cities. The manual telephone exchange in the center with 8000 numbers, the long-distance and international exchange, the high-frequency systems, the automatic exchange "Levov Most" with 3000 numbers, "Red Cross" with 2500 numbers and the entire underground and above-ground cable and aerial network were severely damaged and put out of action. For a short time, along with the restoration of the telephone network, the long-distance telephone exchange, the manual telephone exchange, the half-destroyed ATC "Levov Most" came into operation. The new "Red Cross" exchange was installed, the installation of the "Lozenets" ATC and others were completed.
Following the end of World War II and the establishment of the People's Republic of Bulgaria the Ministry of Railways, Posts and Telegraphs of Bulgaria was dissolved and divided into two organizations: Ministry of Railways, Roads and Water Communications and Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones which operated the postal system. From 1957 the Ministry of Post was merged back into the Ministry of Transport and Communications with postal administration and telecommunications administration operating under its jurisdiction. In 1981 the postal department and telecommunications department were united to form a state-owned company, the Bulgarian Post and Telecommunications (Bulgarian : Български пощи и далекосъобщения. [1] In 1992 following the demise of the communist regime and the establishment of modern Bulgaria, the regulatory part was given to the newly created Committee for Post and Telecommunications , and the company itself split into two separate entities: the Bulgarian Posts took over postal activities with the telecommunication section being incorporated as a Bulgarian Telecommunications Company and was later privatized.
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.