"Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz..."
The static over the telephone was loud. Even so, this was still Berlin Electric Company's cutting-edge technology.
To make such a long-distance call possible, sixty-seven sound amplifiers alone had been installed. Ernst had spent a fortune gathering relevant talent from across the German territories and inviting leading scientific figures. In the end, with the help of Siemens' experts and the combined strength of all Germany, they had overcome the relevant technical difficulties within a few months.
Compared to Siemens, Ernst's Berlin Electric Company was practically not even on the level of elementary school students. Its few important inventions had also been acquired through clever shortcuts.
At the same time, Berlin Electric Company also served as half a processing plant for Siemens Company, contract-manufacturing certain components after receiving technical authorization.
Though Berlin Electric Company was so unimpressive, it had still grown into Germany's second-largest electric company. First place naturally belonged to Siemens Company.
Just as Ernst had said before, excluding the great theorists, the only great inventors in the electrical field who could compare with Siemens were Tesla and Edison of the United States.
By the time the telephone line had been laid, the total expense had nearly been enough to buy Alaska all over again. Yet such a transoceanic line held virtually no commercial value for the Hohenzollern Conglomerate.
The entire telephone line could only maintain calls between Ernst and Constantin. Its sole benefit was adding to Berlin Electric Company's technical reserves.
Unlike the telephone line, part of the upgraded telegraph network could be separated out. It no longer had to serve exclusively as a dedicated East African government line and could be used for some civilian communications as well. However, given the current state of East African immigration, there was no real need for it.
After