1970	Corning Glass demonstrate highly transparent fibers, and Bell Laboratories demonstrates semiconductor lasers that could operate at room temperature; these demonstrations help establish the feasibility of fiber-optic communications
1971	The Intelsat IV communications satellite goes into commercial operation. Initially it has 830 circuits in service and linked ground stations in 15 countries. The DUV (Data Under Voice) is introduced. It permits signals to "hitch-hike" on existing microwave radio systems by using the lower end of the frequency band not normally used for voice. Ray Tomlinson writes the first email program. The @ sign is used for the first time in an email address.
1972	IEEE Communications Society is established on 1 January. Jon Postel writes the specifications for Telnet. IEEE Proceedings publishes its first issue on computer communications. Guest Editors are Paul Green and Robert Lucky. A demonstration of the ARPANET at the 1972 IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications.
1973	Robert Metcalfe invents Ethernet at Xerox PARC. Ethernet uses a cable rather than a radio channel as the transmission medium. The "Touch-a-matic" telephone is introduced. It can automatically dial a call anywhere in the U.S. at the touch of a single button. Its solid-state memory allows dialing up to 32 pre-coded telephone numbers. Construction of a new, high-capacity coaxial cable system, called L5, is completed between Pittsburgh and St. Louis. It has the capacity of carrying 108,000 simultaneous telephone conversations, three times the capacity of any previous system. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is introduced.
1974	Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn publish "A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection", in IEEE Communications Magazine, which outlines design of a Transmission Control Program (TCP). The term "Internet" is used for the first time. Western Union launches Westar, the nation's first domestic communications satellite. New York Telephone inaugurated Dial-A-Joke, an addition to the recorded announcement field. During the first month of operation, more than 100,000 calls a day are made to the number.
1975	Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) opens Telenet, the first public packet data service. Viking is launched. Lands on Mars in 1976 and sends back data to Earth. Transmission testing begins on the T4M, highest-capacity, short-haul digital transmission system in the U.S. The new system, linking Newark, NJ to New York City, transmits 274 million "bits" of information per second over a single coaxial tube.
1976	Centennial of the Telephone IEEE establishes the Alexander Graham Bell Medal to commemorate of the centennial of the telephone's invention and to provide recognition for outstanding contributions in telecommunications. Amos Joel, William Keister and Raymond Ketchledge are the first recipients. COMSTAR is launched and begins commercial service. It is in permanent orbit over the Galapagos Islands.
1977	Voyager spacecraft is launched. Sends back signals from Jupiter (1979-1980), Saturn (1981), Uranus (1986) and Neptune (1989). Bell Laboratories announces the development of the MAC-8, a microprocessor suited for a wide range of telecommunications applications.
1978	TAT-1, the world's first transoceanic telephone cable was retired (27 November) TCP split into TCP and IP
1979	A 62,000-mile microwave telecommunications system is completed within Saudi Arabia. Emoticons are suggested :-)