Vatican telephone exchange
The Vatican Telephone Exchange and the associated telephone service are organizationally assigned to the Telecommunications Directorate of the Governorate of the Vatican State. The telephone exchange plans, manages and maintains the network infrastructure and has sufficient competence and technical staff.
tasks
The Vatican's telephone service is responsible for the entire planning, administration, maintenance and expansion of the telecommunications and data transmission networks. The switchboard is nevertheless a switching center and is responsible for the constant updating of hardware , software , lines and the internal telephone number plan. The office is responsible for the technical structure and operation of the Vatican intranet and the Internet . It manages the internal billing and fees and is responsible for selling phone cards.
The telephone service
The Vatican's telephone service has been in operation since 1948 and is under the care of the Society of St. Apostle Paul posed. In total, over 30 civilians, some priests and several nuns who have the appropriate qualifications and speak several foreign languages , are employed.
The telephone exchange
The first switchboard, consisting of ten telephone lines, was installed in 1886. The connection between the Holy See and the summer residence Castel Gandolfo was overlaid with radio . After the Lateran Treaty was signed in 1929, the Vatican's telephone network was expanded significantly. Thanks to a generous donation, the telephone exchange could be increased to a capacity of 360 lines in 1930. In 1960 1500 participants were connected to the exchange, and some time later 3000 participants. The mediation possibilities now also led beyond the borders of the Vatican into the outer areas of the Vatican institutions. The last expansion to 5120 connections and the laying of fiber optic cables took place in 1992.