Nortel History - 1874 to 1899
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1874 - The telephone is born in Canada
Alexander
Graham Bell invents the telephone in Brantford, Ontario, only
103 kilometers (64 miles) from Nortel Networks present world
headquarters. Patent rights go to the National Bell Telephone
Company (U.S.) and Bell Telephone Company of Canada.
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1882 - Bell Telephone Company of Canada branches into manufacturing
Faced with
the death of the one man who supplied all its telephone units,
and the prospect of losing Canadian patent rights if it didn't
manufacture domestically, Bell Telephone Company of Canada launches
its own manufacturing division in Montreal. The Mechanical Department
opens with two employees and grows to 13 employees by year end. |
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1886 - The first switchboard
The Mechanical
Department manufactures its first telephone switchboard —
the 50-line Standard Magneto Switchboard. |
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1890 - Expansion to meet Bell Canada contracts
Ground is
broken for a new factory to house the Mechanical Department's
200 employees, who by now are fabricating nearly all the equipment
used by Bell in Canada. |
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1895 - Defining the organization around customer needs
Canada evolves
from a cluster of insignificant British colonies into a country,
with a transcontinental railway and the beginnings of a national
phone system. To take advantage of opportunities to sell to
other operating companies, and to sell non-telephone apparatus,
the Northern Electric and Manufacturing Company Limited is incorporated. |
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1895 - Identifying and meeting a critical requirement
Fire can
still ravage a city block in the time it takes horse-drawn fire
engines to respond. Early warning is critical. The Northern
Electric Manufacturing Company develops The No 3. Signal Box,
one of the first fire-alarm boxes. |
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1899 - Growth by targeted acquisition
Bell Telephone
of Canada purchases a wire and cable manufacturing company,
which will eventually be merged with the telephone equipment
manufacturing subsidiary. |
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