I've been looking for a copy of "How the World Was One" after seeing it recommended in the article, but can't find it anywhere. I did really enjoy A Thread Across the Ocean though. The early history of that stuff is every bit as wild as Stephenson makes it out to be.
This is a good book about exactly the people who did it https://www.amazon.com/Thread-Across-Ocean-Heroic-Transatlantic/dp/0060524464