the first international meeting to set standards for data communication was held in paris in 1865, to discuss interconnection of telegraph systems ...| standards setting for computer communication: the case of x.25 by marvin a. sirbu and laurence e. zwimpfer, ieee, 1985

there was telegraphy then morse (1840s), telex came as well as teletyper, the only thing missing was this machine called number cruncher. no wonder it took some time as it wasn't in its name.