In 2001, 94.3% of the occupied housing units in Texas had telephones. Dallas was one of Western Union's first US communications satellite stations, and it leads the state as a center for data communications.
The state has not always been in the communications vanguard, however. Texas passed up a chance to make a handsome profit from the invention of the telegraph when, in 1838, inventor Samuel F. B. Morse offered his newfangled device to the republic as a gift. When the Texas government neglected to respond, Morse withdrew the offer.
Texas had 309 major radio stations (72 AM, 237 FM) in 2003 and 87 major
television stations. The state's first radio station, WRR, was established by the city of Dallas in 1920. The first television station, WBAP, began broadcasting in Ft. Worth in 1948. The Dallas-Fort Worth area has 2,018,120 television households, only 51% receiving cable; the Houston area has 1,712,060 television households, 58% with cable; and the San Antonio area has 684,730 television homes, 66% with cable.
Approximately 439,135 Internet domain names were registered with the state in the year 2000; the 3rd most of any state.