In the early forties of the 20th century, Western Union has used the first time a commercial intercity microwave transmission system. America was on the verge of civil war and needed a reliable connection between the North and South. On the telegraph market of the USA at this time were operated with six large companies: American Telegraph Company, New York Albany and Buffalo Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company, Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph, Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company, New Orleans & Ohio Telegraph Company, and the brainchild of Sibley & Co. - The Western Union Telegraph. 1998 - the number of points of money transfers worldwide reached 50,000. The network of money transfers of Western Union is the world's largest. Most service points of Western Union work in the time convenient for customers throughout the week and throughout the year. The size of the commission fee for the transfer is charged according to the Western Union tariffs and depends on the amount of money sent. Western Union incomes for 2007 have made $4,9 billion US dollars, and the quantity of transactions has made 572 million. Thanks to cooperation with Western Union the Associated Press at the end of the XIX century took almost monopolistic position in the U.S. market news. The first offices of company were located in the Reynolds Arcade building in Rochester, New York. The sign above the main entrance to the building -