If coaxial cables were not discovered, just imagine how difficult it would have been for us to communicate through optic wires. The patented coaxial cables gave way to the ubiquitous telephone and cable television.

The coaxial cables have enabled wider frequency range by wrapping an outer conductor around an inner conductor. This way, “the electromagnetic field carrying the signal will only travel in the space between the inner and outer conductors.” Previously the two conductors are placed side-by-side.

The cables were discovered in the United States until 1931 after experiments were held in Bell Laboratories for position telephone usage. The patent, U.S. Patent No. 1,835,031 for a “concentric conducting system,” was then awarded to Lloyd Espenschied of Kew Gardens, New York and Herman Affel of Ridgewood, New Jersey. After which, the coaxial cables were assigned to the American Telephone & Telegraph Co.

Coaxial cables and amplifiers led its way to the first trans-Atlantic telephone cable in 1956, as well as the growth of community antenna television or CATV.