Editing Submarine communications cable (section)

===Cable to India, Singapore, East Asia and Australia===
[[File:1901 Eastern Telegraph cables.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Eastern Telegraph Company network in 1901. Dotted lines across the Pacific indicate planned cables laid in 1902–03.]]

Throughout the 1860s and 1870s, British cable expanded eastward, into the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. An 1863 cable to Bombay (now [[Mumbai]]), India, provided a crucial link to [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080203/jsp/frontpage/story_8856997.jsp |title=The Telegraph&nbsp;– Calcutta (Kolkata) &#124; Frontpage &#124; Third cable cut, but India's safe |publisher=Telegraphindia.com |date=2008-02-03 |access-date=2010-04-25 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903041957/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080203/jsp/frontpage/story_8856997.jsp |archive-date=2010-09-03 }}</ref> In 1870, Bombay was linked to London via submarine cable in a combined operation by four cable companies, at the behest of the British Government. In 1872, these four companies were combined to form the mammoth globe-spanning [[Cable & Wireless plc|Eastern Telegraph Company]], owned by [[John Pender]]. A spin-off from Eastern Telegraph Company was a second sister company, the Eastern Extension, China and Australasia Telegraph Company, commonly known simply as "the Extension." In 1872, Australia was linked by cable to Bombay via Singapore and China and in 1876, the cable linked the British Empire from London to New Zealand.<ref>"Landing the New Zealand cable", pg 3, ''[[The Nelson Mail|The Colonist]]'', 19 February 1876</ref>