I’ve read Jules Verne’s book as a kid but I never knew it had actually been done so close after he wrote it, during his lifetime. When he wrote it just 10 earlier it was considered sci-fi.
It should be noted that for the common person it might as well be sci-fi, since Bly and Bisland (and Fogg) had considerable resources behind them and could buy or rent alternatives when a connection inevitably failed.