The History of the Telegraph

The 19century French physicist, Ampere, after whom the amp, the standard unit for measuring an electric current, was named; proposed that one could by means of as many pairs of conducting wires and magnetic needles as there are letters establish a signaling system. In 1819, it was noticed that an electric current would deflect magnetic needles and that a freely-moving magnetized needle when surrounded by a wire coil will respond to the power of the electrical current in the coil. A device the Galvanometer, to measure currents was built and the would-be electrical telegraphers acquired a signaling instrument using dynamic electricity. This was the final prototype for telegraphy. It was now recognized that there exists a direct relationship between magnetism and electricity and that magnetism can be used to measure a current of electricity and vice versa a current of electricity may be applied to magnetic elements in order to create a signaling device

What had not been figured out early in the 19th century is who needs this instrument? Where was the social necessity to turn these experiments into an invention?