When Telesp was created, part of the state's cities did not have telephone systems. Of these, most were served only by a Service Post (PS), but some were still "silent zones", not even having a PS, which was the case for
Estrela do Norte,
Flora Rica,
Igaratá,
Palmares Paulista,
Pedra Bela,
Pinhalzinho,
Pirapora do Bom Jesus and
Sagres. There were also cases of cities whose telephone system was abandoned, such as
Queiroz, cities that had their telephone system extinguished, such as
Caiabu, or cities served by companies that had been halted, such as Empresa Telefônica Mogiana of
Santo Antônio de Posse. The completion of the implementation of telephone systems in cities that lacked Telesp urban services occurred in 1979, with
Rifaina the last city to get a telephone system; Telesp even launched the TV commercial
"Rifaina", which received the award for Best Special Project at the 2nd edition of
Rede Globo's Profissionais do Ano award in 1979.
Manual exchanges Most cities that had telephone systems were served by
manual exchanges with switchboards operated by telephone operators. Telesp continued to implement manual exchanges in municipal seats only until 1979, and only on an emergency basis. The last cities to have telephone systems implemented through manual exchanges were: • Adolfo, Flora Rica, Guarani d'Oeste, Itapura, Lagoinha, Mendonça, Mirassolândia, Sagres, São João das Duas Pontes and Sebastianópolis do Sul (1975) Estrela do Norte, Gabriel Monteiro, Narandiba, Palmares Paulista, Sandovalina, Santa Clara d'Oeste, Tarabai and União Paulista • Pontes Gestal, Rubinéia and São Francisco (1977) • Mariápolis, Marinópolis, Nova Guataporanga, Paulicéia, Pedranópolis, Pinhalzinho, Platina, Santa Mercedes, Santana da Ponte Pensa and São João do Pau d'Alho (1978) • Pedra Bela (1979) Because they were obsolete, manual exchanges were gradually replaced by Telesp's automatic exchanges until 1985, when the
automation of telephone exchanges in all municipal seats within its coverage area was completed. However, manual exchanges continued to be installed in districts in the 1980s, including in some that became emancipated in the 1990s, such as Nova Castilho and São João de Iracema.
Automatic exchanges Capital In April 1973,
Telecomunicações de São Paulo (TELESP) was created. The following month,
CTB transferred its entire holdings in the state to this company. When it came to being served by Telesp, the city of
São Paulo had 48 automatic exchanges installed in 24 telephone exchange buildings. Soon after, the first contract was signed to expand the capital's telephone network, and Telesp had already begun a new expansion plan. Upon taking over operations, Telesp already inaugurated the new telephone exchanges of the one million telephones plan (P1M):
Campo Belo (exchange "241"), Telesp continued, without interruption, the ongoing works begun by CTB: the telephone exchange building
Guarani (inaugurated in 1973) and the planned telephone exchange buildings
Jaguaré, Tremembé and
Vila Gustavo (inaugurated between 1977 and 1978). The city of
Guarulhos was integrated into the São Paulo area in 1974, and therefore its telephone exchanges began to follow the capital's numbering sequence. However, the DDD system was installed in the city only in 1975, after the completion of the works on the new telephone exchange. During this period, Telesp conducted an area cutover at the
Benjamin Constant center and deactivated exchange "33" to improve telephone traffic in this critical area of the capital. Another area with many problems that were resolved was the
Jardins center, where exchanges "80" and "81" were replaced by exchanges "852" and "853" respectively; exchange "81" was switched off and dismantled, and exchange "80" was reused and reactivated in 1977 as exchange "64". Through its own planning, it inaugurated new telephone exchange buildings, the first being
Parelheiros (inaugurated in 1978) and
Ceagesp (inaugurated in 1981), It also expanded the buildings of the telephone exchange buildings inaugurated by CTB between 1968 and 1970, and built annex buildings to older telephone exchange buildings (
Benjamin Constant, Brás, Campo Belo, Guarulhos, Ipiranga, Jardins, Palmeiras, Perdizes and
Vila Mariana), always using
crossbar exchanges as equipment. In 1979, the city of
Osasco was integrated into the São Paulo area. The new telephone exchange building was inaugurated in 1977 (exchange "478"), and was changed to exchange "801" when the integration occurred, at the same time that the second telephone exchange (exchange "802") was inaugurated, thereafter following the capital's numbering sequence until 1986, when there was a new change in prefixes.
CPA exchanges In December 1977, the country's first digital telephone exchange was inaugurated on an experimental basis (the so-called
CPA –
centrais controladas por programa armazenado). PRX-series equipment (
Philips) was used, and the exchange was installed in
Vila Mariana (prefix "544"). But it was another digital technology, the AXE-10 series (
Ericsson), that was deployed definitively, with the first exchange also inaugurated in
Vila Mariana (prefix "572") in April 1982, gradually beginning the deployment of digital exchanges in São Paulo. In the same year, two more CPAs were inaugurated: in the
Guarani telephone exchange building (prefix "918") in September 1982,
Campo Belo (prefix "533") and
Osasco (prefix "803") in December 1983.
Jaraguá, Morumbi, São Mateus and
Vila Esperança were inaugurated with only digital exchanges. By that year, 26 CPAs with around 200,000 terminals had already been installed in the capital area. In the following years, the telephone exchange buildings
Anhanguera and
Nova Parelheiros (1985),
Freguesia do Ó (1986),
Anchieta, Guarapiranga and
Vila Prudente (1987),
Dutra (1988),
Cidade Vargas and
Itaim Bibi (1989) were inaugurated. The "áreas mudas" in the municipality persisted for some years after
Telecomunicações de São Paulo (TELESP) took over operations.
Parelheiros only began to have telephone service in 1978 (1,000 terminals with the 9 thousand-group of prefix "246", changed to "520" in 1979),
Jaraguá in 1984 (4,000 digital terminals with prefix "841") and Nova Parelheiros in 1985 (1,000 terminals with the 8 thousand-group of prefix "520"). By the end of the 1980s, there were 45 telephone exchange buildings installed in the city of São Paulo:
Interior Medium- and large-scale exchanges: In interior cities that already had automatic exchanges, they were step-by-step, rotary, and crossbar types, from various manufacturers (
Automatic Electric,
Ericsson,
Standard Elétrica and
Plessey). As the need to expand terminals arose, step-by-step and rotary exchanges were replaced by crossbar exchanges. In cities that already had crossbar exchanges, the number of terminals could be increased without changing the equipment. Of the oldest automatic exchanges installed by CTB, only a few were kept, such as
Araraquara,
Bauru,
Campinas,
Rio Claro and
Santos (Brás Cubas and Tocantins),
Piracicaba,
São João da Boa Vista and
Votuporanga. The automatic exchanges inaugurated by CTB between 1970 and 1972, and that were part of the first expansion plan, were kept, some of which had their buildings expanded or replaced: • Avaré (replaced), Barra Bonita, Botucatu, Bragança Paulista, Cruzeiro, Garça, Itapetininga (replaced), Itapeva, Itapira, Itatiba, Itu, Jaboticabal, Lençóis Paulista, Mococa, Mogi Guaçu (replaced), Mogi Mirim (expanded), and Tatuí
Guarulhos,
São José dos Campos and
Sorocaba. . Of the automatic exchanges installed by COTESP, some were also kept, such as
Ilhabela,
Ilha Solteira,
Paraibuna,
Santa Branca,
São Sebastião and
Ubatuba. In an agreement signed in 1973, for COTESP fell the portion relating to building construction, power supply, engineering, and supervision of new telephone exchanges, which were installed in special buildings of
brutalist architecture, of which the architect
Ruy Ohtake, one of the most highly regarded in Brazil, produced two designs (
Campos do Jordão and
Ibiúna), while Telesp took charge of installing and activating the telephone equipment. , designed by
Ruy Ohtake and Júlio Katinsky. Thus the exchanges in
Andradina,
Caçapava and
Campos do Jordão were activated by COTESP, and the others by Telesp, with the exchanges in
Angatuba,
Auriflama,
Capão Bonito,
Itararé,
Nhandeara,
Pereira Barreto,
Peruíbe and
Registro replacing provisional automatic exchanges installed by COTESP, and the exchanges in
Cachoeira Paulista,
Caraguatatuba,
Cardoso,
Ibiúna and
Piquete replacing manual exchanges. The automatic exchanges received by Telesp from the private companies that were incorporated were, for the most part, replaced by larger buildings, receiving new automatic equipment, such as the exchanges of
Americana,
Granja Viana,
Ourinhos,
Praia Grande,
Santa Bárbara d'Oeste,
São Carlos (inaugurated in January 1980 already with the DDD system by Governor
Paulo Maluf, with the inauguration act being a direct call to President
Figueiredo in Brasília),
São Vicente and
Sumaré. Only the buildings that allowed expansion of telephone equipment were retained. . The first automatic exchanges inaugurated by Telesp were those that were part of the first expansion plan and also of CTB's one-million-telephone plan, and which had been planned by that company:
Amparo,
Indaiatuba,
Paulínia,
Ibitinga,
Matão,
Taquaritinga and
Lorena (May 1973),
Salto,
São Roque and
Sertãozinho (July 1973),
Porto Feliz and
São Manuel (August 1973),
Laranjal Paulista and
Birigui (October 1973),
Poá and
Carapicuíba (1973). The others planned by CTB were inaugurated together with the new exchanges planned by Telesp, in which various types of standard buildings were used, including the PTC-1, of only a single floor: • Pirajuí (January 1974) (March 1974), and Tietê (1975) • Capivari, Fernandópolis, Mairiporã, Quiririm Bernardino de Campos, Cafelândia, Campo Limpo Paulista, Cerquilho, Dois Córregos, Duartina, Fartura, Itapevi, Lucélia, Mongaguá, and Tupi Paulista (1979) • Alphaville, Bastos, Embu-Guaçu, Jaguariúna and Parque Petrópolis (1980) The main types of crossbar exchanges deployed were: ARF-102 (
Ericsson), ESK-10000 (
Siemens), NC-400 (
NEC), PC-1000 (
Standard Elétrica) and 5005 (
Plessey). In 1983, the first CPA outside the capital is inaugurated, in
Osasco (prefix "803"). CPAs began to replace crossbar exchanges. However, some cities retained the obsolete step-by-step exchanges until CPAs replaced them. The main types of digital exchanges deployed were:
AXE-10 (
Ericsson),
EWSD (
Equitel / Siemens), NEAX-61 (
NEC),
5ESS (
AT&T) and TRÓPICO-RA (
Promon – current
Trópico).
Small exchanges Before being incorporated, COTESP deployed small automatic exchanges in 1974 in cities that had not yet been transferred to Telesp. They were
decadic exchanges of the UD type (
Philips-Inbelsa), installed in a prefabricated standard modular-construction building, whose main characteristics were low cost and ease of short-term installation, providing a quick solution to communication problems in areas of low population density: by COTESP (1974). • Cananéia, Clementina, Eldorado, Estrela d'Oeste, Gastão Vidigal, General Salgado, Getulina, Indiaporã, Iporanga, Itariri, Juquitiba, Macaubal, Meridiano, Miracatu, Pedro de Toledo, Populina, Ribeira, Salto de Pirapora, Santa Rita d'Oeste and Sud Mennucci The deployment of small automatic exchanges in the cities included in the additional plan is considered Telesp's first achievement. Most were installed in a standard PLAD-type building, characterized by a very simple masonry structure. At the same time, the exchanges of cities that were already part of CTB's expansion plan began to be deployed.
Cândido Rodrigues,
Dobrada,
Palestina and
Santa Lúcia (January 1974). They were deployed through 1977: • Avaí, Cajobi, • Barrinha, Cesário Lange, Cabreúva, • Águas de Santa Bárbara, Campos Novos Paulista and Monte Castelo (1976) Ipaussu, Pontal, Porangaba, Ibirarema, Igarapava, Itajobi, Itatinga, Itirapuã, Juquiá, Luís Antônio, Lutécia, • Borborema, Cordeirópolis, Ilha Comprida, Paraíso,'' Chavantes, Coroados, Cristais Paulista, Echaporã, Gália, Glicério, Guarantã, Iacri, Irapuã, Irapuru, Massaguaçu, • Álvares Florence, Anhembi, Boa Esperança do Sul, Dourado, Paulicéia, Pinhalzinho, Porto Primavera, Praia do Juqueí, Presidente Alves, Salto Grande, and Ribeirão do Sul (1984) In 1985, automatic exchanges were deployed in the last 38 cities that were still served by manual exchanges, installed in a standard building of the PTC-600 type: • Alto Alegre, Balbinos, Barra do Turvo, Borá, Caiuá, Estrela do Norte, Flora Rica, Gabriel Monteiro, Itaju, Itapura, Lucianópolis, Marinópolis, Mirassolândia, Monções, Narandiba, Nipoã, Nova Independência, Nova Luzitânia, Ocauçu, Óleo, Onda Verde, Pedranópolis, Platina, Rubiácea, Rubinéia, Sagres, Sandovalina, Santa Clara d'Oeste, Santana da Ponte Pensa, São Francisco, São João das Duas Pontes, Sebastianópolis do Sul, Tarabai, Tejupá, Turiúba, Turmalina, União Paulista and Uru From the late 1980s, the small digital exchanges of the TRÓPICO-R series (
Promon and PHT) and CPR (
Equitel) began to be deployed; they were modular and installed in transportable containers.
Buildings Telesp used several types of standard buildings, which were designed for the sole purpose of housing telephone exchanges, according to their size: • For the larger exchanges, various types of masonry buildings were used, such as the standard buildings PTC1, PTC2, PTC4, 10KT, 20KT, 40KT, 50KT, 80KT, etc. • For smaller exchanges, containers were used, as well as modular or masonry buildings, such as the standard buildings PLAD, PTC, PTRI, 4KT, etc. The telephone exchange buildings are still used today by
Vivo, but they are real-estate assets subject to reversion (reversible assets).
Area cuts , with the Fonte Luminosa
telephone exchange in the foreground. As the telecommunications plant expanded, capacity for additional telephone exchanges was exhausted in areas of highest telephone demand, necessitating the construction of new exchanges to serve the growing number of users. Thus, when a new telephone exchange was built within the service area of a single existing one, the customers who were farthest from the old exchange and closest to the new one were reassigned to it, freeing up terminals for new customers near the old exchange and increasing service capacity within the area. This reassignment of telephone terminals from one telephone exchange to another was called an
area cut. When the cuts occurred, the telephones reassigned to the new exchange had their prefixes and the thousands digit(s) of their numbers changed. In the capital, given its enormous demand for telephones, area cuts were frequent. In the other cities, before Telesp was created, they had only been carried out in Santos. Most of the area cuts were made in the 1990s due to the major telephone expansion, with hundreds of new exchanges inaugurated to meet existing demand for telephones. List of the first area cuts in the main cities served by Telesp (except the capital): •
Santos – with no possibility of expanding the city's first automatic exchange, CTB inaugurated the Tocantins exchange in 1948 and later inaugurated the Washington Luís exchange in 1971, to which the telephones from the two older exchanges were later reassigned. Telesp carried out new area cuts, with the inauguration of the José Menino and Ponta da Praia exchanges in 1977, and Areia Branca in 1982 •
Campinas – the city where Telesp made the first area cuts in the interior, with the inauguration of the Cambuí and Castelo exchanges in 1976, •
Bauru – inauguration of the Altos da Cidade exchange in 1977 •
Jundiaí – inauguration of the Vila Arens exchanges in 1982, and Vila Industrial in 1989 •
Guarulhos – inauguration of the Cumbica exchange in 1984 •
São José dos Campos – inauguration of the Jardim Satélite exchanges in 1984, and Tatetuba in 1988 •
Araraquara – inauguration of the Fonte Luminosa exchange in 1984 •
Barueri – the cut was made in the area of the Alphaville exchange, with the inauguration of the Barueri exchange in 1984 •
Itu – inauguration of the Tiradentes exchange in 1984 •
Piracicaba – inauguration of the Vila Resende exchange in 1987 •
Carapicuíba – inauguration of the Vila Dirce exchange in 1988 •
Sorocaba – inauguration of the Cerrado exchange in 1989 •
São José do Rio Preto – inauguration of the Maceno and Redentora exchanges in 1991 •
Americana – inauguration of the Praia Azul and Praia dos Namorados exchanges in 1991 •
Santa Bárbara d'Oeste – inauguration of the Jardim Esmeralda exchange in 1995 In other important cities such as
Araçatuba,
Jacareí,
Marília,
Osasco,
Presidente Prudente,
Rio Claro,
São Carlos,
São Vicente and
Taubaté all the area cuts were made in the 1990s. Of the main cities served by Telesp, only
Limeira had no area cuts due to the large capacity of the telephone exchange building. Some cities had more than one telephone exchange, but these were not area cuts; rather, they were service to regions that did not have telephone systems, such as the Hortolândia in
Cotia, the Enseada and Vicente de Carvalho exchanges in
Guarujá, and the Cidade Ocian, Solemar and Vila Caiçara, exchanges in
Praia Grande. There was also an area cut in the case of cities that shared the telephone exchange of a nearby city for technical convenience, as in the case of
Barueri, which shared the exchange of
Carapicuíba until an area cut was made, with the inauguration of the Alphaville telephone exchange in 1980, as well as
Igaraçu do Tietê, which shared the exchange of
Barra Bonita until 1988, and
Vargem Grande Paulista, which shared the exchange of
Cotia until 1989.
Rural cooperatives After the pioneering initiative of the
Cooperativa Rural de Telecomunicações de Mogi das Cruzes (operating area of the
Companhia Telefônica da Borda do Campo), when two rural automatic telephone exchanges were inaugurated in 1975, the way was opened for rural telecommunications cooperatives to emerge across the state with the same initiative to solve the communications problem among their members through the implementation of rural telephony systems. The projects were designed and executed by the
Department of Water and Electric Energy (DAEE) in partnership with Telesp, and in total 17 rural cooperatives benefited. Telesp began to assume operation of these systems from the late 1970s, most in 1981 (8 exchanges) and 1982 (15 exchanges), until in 1985 the Plano Diretor de Telecomunicações Rurais was launched for work in the area. Among the rural telephone exchanges installed, the one in the former rural nucleus of Holambra stands out; it, at the time, belonged to the municipalities of Jaguariúna and Artur Nogueira, and in 1993 became a municipality. . == Telephone numbering ==