Narrative
Highlights
1905 -
Incorporated on April 5 as the Temiskaming Telephone Company in New
Liskeard, Ontario. Thomas McCamus, a co-founder of the Company, is
appointed its first President. By the end of the year, there are 125
telephones in service.
1906 - A Bell
Telephone Company offer to buy out the Company is turned down by the
Board of Directors. Service is extended to Cobalt and the Haileybury
Telephone Company is purchased.
1909 - Service is
extended north to Englehart and total telephones in service now
number 800.
1910 - After only
five years in existence, Temiskaming Telephone Company assets amount
to $78,700.
1921 - Kirkland
Lake and Swastika Telephone system is purchased.
1922 - A
disastrous fire destroys one-fourth of the telephone system,
including most of Haileybury's plant, all of Charlton's and 30 miles
of rural lines.
1925 - Elk Lake
and Gowganda Telephone System is purchased. Company assets are now
$313,200.
1927 - the
Kapuskasing exchange is established.
1928 - More than
1,000 telephones are purchased in the Timmins area from the
Porcupine Telephone Lines Company. The Company now has 4,500
telephones in service. The Company is recapitalised and renamed
Northern Telephone Company Limited.
1930 - Service is
extended to Hearst and Mattice.
1933 - Service is
extended to the Matachewan Mining District.
1941 - Kerns
Municipal Telephone System is purchased and connected to New
Liskeard switchboard.
1949 - The first
move west takes place, with the opening of the Atikokan exchange.
1952 - The
Company's first dial conversion is completed at the Cobalt exchange.
1956 - Further
expansion in the west with the purchase of Red Lake Telephone
Company and 52 percent control of Norwesto Communications Company
Limited.
1957 - Algoma
Central Telephone and a portion of Kenora Telephone is purchased.
1961 - Telephone
d'Harricana et Gatineau Ltee. and Telephone Chibougamau Ltee. are
purchased. There are now more than 50,000 telephones in service.
1963 - Ansonville
and Beaudry join the growing system, followed a year later by the
Malartic and Cadillac exchanges of Blais Telephone.
1966 - Bell
Canada acquires control of the Company through a share purchase. At
the time of the offer, Northern Telephone Limited is the largest
independent telephone company in Ontario and its subsidiary,
Northern Quebec Telephone Incorporated, is the second largest in
Quebec.
1967 - La Sarre
Telephone becomes the last major purchase by the Company and this
paves the way for the acquisition of the Quebec communications
assets of Ontario Northland Telecommunications. The Company is now
operating in a 300,000 square mile area from the Ontario-Manitoba
border to just north of Lac St. Jean, 150 miles from Quebec City.
1969 - The
Company's western assets are sold to Bell Canada.
1971 - The
100,000th telephone is installed as a payphone in the Timmins
exchange and the first Direct Distance Dialing project is completed
at Val d'Or.
1974 - The 100
per cent dial milestone is reached December 4.
1976 - Northern
Quebec Telephone Incorporated is sold to T??ec and the Company
consolidates operations in an 83,000 square kilometer area of
Northeastern Ontario. Northern Telephone Assets are now more than
$63.5 million. The Company begins its 11-year Rural Upgrade Program,
designed to upgrade multi-party telephone customers to lines of four
or less customers per line.
1979 - The Head
Office building in New Liskeard, part of which dated back to the
early years of the Company's history, is destroyed by fire on
December 14.
1980 - The first
large digital switching equipment is installed in Hearst.
1981 - The
McKelvie Building, Northern Telephone's new Head Office in New
Liskeard, officially opens its doors September 24. It is named after
the former President and Chairman of the Board, Donald McKelvie.
1982 - Northern
Telephone's list of telephone exchanges grows to 32 with the opening
of an exchange at Detour Lake, a gold mining development, northeast
of Cochrane.
1983 - Customers
can now connect their own telephone equipment to Northern
Telephone's network. The Company becomes a subsidiary of BCE Inc.
1984 - By the end
of 1984, Northern Telephone has 50,891 telephone numbers in service.
1985 - Northern
Telephone Limited marks its 80th year of operation and reaffirms its
motto of "Bringing the North Together" by continuing to
provide good quality telecommunications service to residents of
Northeastern Ontario.
1986 - An 11-year
program to upgrade rural telephone lines to four or less customers
per line is completed. In all, 3,845 customers receive the upgraded
service at a cost of more than $10.8 million. Company assets now
amount to more than $72.8 million.
1987 - Northern
Telephone Limited and Ontario Northland Telecommunications install
modern digital telephone switching equipment in Cobalt, Earlton,
Haileybury, Latchford and New Liskeard, at a total cost of $6
million.
1989 - The
Company completes its program to modernize all four-digit telephone
exchanges with the last such project completed at Abitibi Canyon.
The Hearst telephone exchange is converted to digital switching
equipment.
1990 - Completion
of modernization projects in Kapuskasing and Smooth Rock Falls
create the Company's largest geographical area served by digital
equipment, stretching from Calstock through to Smooth Rock Falls,
and including Calstock, Hearst, Opasatika, Mattice, Kapuskasing,
Moonbeam, Fauquier and Smooth Rock Falls.
1992 - A
record-setting capital program of $15.6 million goes to upgrading
and modernization projects across the Company's serving area.
Highlights include the digital conversion of the Kirkland Lake
telephone exchange and the final phase of digital conversion in
Timmins. By year-end, 86.0 percent of the Company's total installed
telephone lines are served by digital switching equipment.
1994 - A company
subsidiary, NorTel Mobility, is created to offer cellular telephone
service in Northeastern Ontario. Northern Telephone's new regulatory
body is the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission. By year-end, There are 61,513 total telephone numbers in
service.
1995 - Northern
Telephone introduces NT.NET providing Local Dial Up Internet Access
to Northeastern Ontario. New network features are introduced
including Call Display, Call Return and Call Trace.
1995 - Northern
Telephone celebrates the 90th anniversary of its incorporation, with
the publishing of its own history book and a continuing focus on
providing quality telecommunications service to residents of
Northeastern Ontario.
1996 - Voice Mail is introduced in Timmins. Digital switching is installed in
Swastika. Integrated Voice Messaging Service (IVMS) is launched.
1997 - Northern
Telephone's NT.NET joins the national Sympatico? Internet Service.
The first authorized Northern Telephone dealer is established at a
New Liskeard retail business.
1998 - A Network
Support and Maintenance Centre is opened to provide 7 day, 24 hour
service for customers. The One Switch transition is completed in
Timmins. Northern Telephone launches its new website, providing
information and on-line order capabilities.
1999 - Customers
in Matheson, Iroquois Falls, Virginiatown, Larder Lake and Opishing
all receive digital switching upgrades. Fax to e-mal service and
High Speed Internet using ADSL and ATM technology are introduced.
The first fibre ring from the Tri-Towns north to Kapuskasing is
completed and NorTel Mobility extends cellular service to Larder
Lake.
2000 - Northern
Telephone
embarks on Phase 1 of a $6.4-million program to eliminate customer
party lines throughout its serving area. The
communities of Calstock, Cobalt, Connaught, Iroquois Falls,
Kamiskotia, Kirkland Lake, Larder Lake, Latchford, Moonbeam, Ramore,
South Porcupine and Swastika are upgraded to individual line
service. Digital
switching technology is installed in Elk Lake. NorthernTel sells its
Cochrane assets to the Cochrane Public Utilities Commission.
2001
- Party
lines are eliminated in Elk Lake, Fauquier, Haileybury, Hearst,
Matachewan, New Liskeard and Smooth Rock Falls. Northern
Telephone
completes their portfolio of IT services with the opening of the
Timmins office of Logicon. Northern
Telephone
amalgamates with an indirect subsidiary of Bell Canada, public
shareholders receive $17.50 per share in cash in exchange for their
NorthernTel shares.
2002
- Northern
Telephone
enters the long distance market. NorTel Mobility introduces digital
technology and Telegr@f,
the newest method of cellular communication in the region. A new
cellular tower is installed at Lowther. Bell
Canada announces the issue of Canada?s first telecommunications
industry income fund, the Bell Nordiq Income Fund, which will
acquire and hold 40 % of Northern Telephone
? T??ec Companies, the remaining 60 % being held by Bell
Canada.
The
upgrade to individual line service in Earlton, Englehart, Matheson,
Mattice, Opasatika, Opishing, Abitibi Canyon, Detour Lake, Gowganda,
Timmins and Virginiatown, becomes the standard level of service
across NorthernTel territory.
2003
- Northern Telephone's name officially changes to
NorthernTel and NorTel Mobility changes to NorthernTel
Mobility.
New digital cellular towers are installed at South Porcupine,
Kenogamissi, Hearst and Cochrane. The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund
commits $5 million and NorthernTel invests a further $3 million to
begin a cellular expansion project with NEOnet.
2004
- New digital cellular towers are installed in Timmins to serve the
area west of the City as well as the Timmins Regional Airport.
1x-RTT digital cellular service also comes to Fauquier, Hearst,
Kirkland Lake, Kenogami, Kempis Mountain, Fretz Road, Smooth Rock
Falls, Cobalt, Gogama, Stetham, the Watershed and the South Wye.
High-speed Internet is introduced in Wyborn and Swastika,
Virginiatown, Larder Lake, Kirkland Lake and Englehart enjoy the
benefits of enhanced 9-1-1 service.
2005
- NorthernTel celebrates 100 years of service on April 5.
1x-RTT cellular service is extended to Calstock, Elk Lake,
Matachewan and Holloway Mine.
Enhanced 9-1-1 service is expanded to include Temiskaming Shores,
Hearst, Kapuskasing, Timmins, Iroquois Falls, Black River-Matheson,
Fauquier-Strickland and Smooth Rock Falls.
Swastika, Larder Lake and Virginiatown enjoy the benefits of
High-speed Internet and Telesat High-speed Internet service is
introduced across the region.
2007 – In February 2007, NorthernTel becomes part of the Bell Aliant Regional Communications group, an income trust created in 2006 and controlled by Bell Canada. Bell Aliant is one of North America’s largest regional communications providers and serves customers in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island from its Halifax headquarters
May 1, 2009, a closer link is created with Bell Aliant with the descriptor "a division of Bell Aliant " added to the NorthernTel logo.
2014 - November 3, 2014, BCE announced the completion of its privatization of Bell Aliant and the integration of its Atlantic Canada affiliate into BCE's national operations. As a member of Bell Aliant, NorthernTel integrated the BCE family. The mention “a division of Bell Aliant” was removed from the logo at the same time.
|