Ca-Tel Telecommunications history

The Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell demonstrated that it was possible to transmit information by electromagnetic waves in 1864.

1867: Signal lamps: In 1867, the first dots and dashes were flashed by signal lamps at sea.

The world’s first long-distance telephone call was made in 1876 over 16 kilometers (10 miles) of telegraph wires between Brantford and Paris, Ontario.

On 10 July 1877 Melville Bell received 75 percent of the rights to the Canadian patent on the telephone.

In 1880, the Bell Telephone Company of Canada was established in Montreal, and other companies providing local service in other cities sprung up across the country.

After the pioneering era came the search for universal service: a telephone in every home, an objective that seemed to be within grasp. It had opened an office in Winnipeg in 1881 and was serving a territory stretching from Manitoba to the Northwest Territories to the Rockies.

1893: Wireless telegraphy: Nikolai Tesla was the first to successfully transmit radio waves wirelessly through a transmitter in 1893.

In 1896, he sent his first long-distance wireless transmission.

The first radio communication in Canada was established by the Marconi Company of London in 1901.

The following exemple is typical:On July 11, 1911, fire raged into the mining community of South Porcupine in northern Ontario.

1915: First North American transcontinental telephone calling: Alexander Graham Bell is back in the history books again after he made the first coast-to-coast call by phone in January of 1915 to his assistant.

In 1921, the Telephone Association of Canada was formed to promote the construction of a national network and to solve common technical problems.

The fledgling company was incorporated in Delaware on September 25, 1925, as the United Telephone & Electric Company.

1927: Television: Phillip T. Farnsworth made media history on September 7, 1927, when he demonstrated the first working television set.

On the other hand, recovery from the First World War turned out to be more difficult than foreseen, and when prosperity finally returned, the 1929 stockmarket crash and then the Second World War delayed realization of universal telephone service.

1930: First experimental videophones: In 1930, AT&T had decided to create a two-way experimental videophone they called the Iconophone.

In 1931, the Trans-Canada Telephone System, again an association of “local” telephone companies, began the development of a national network.

1934: First commercial radio-telephone service, United States-Japan: The first radio telephone calls from the United States to Japan were first made in 1934.

1936: World's first public videophone network: The world, now in the throes of World War II, sees the first public videophone network installed in Nazi Germany in March of 1936 during a trade fair.

In November 1938 the company was incorporated in Kansas as United Utilities, Inc., along with seven telephone companies and Central Kansas Power.

1946: Limited-capacity mobile telephone service for automobiles: In June of 1946, the first telephone call was made from an automobile phone.

By 1953 United was ranked fifth among United States independents.

1956: Transatlantic telephone cable: The first 36-circuit transatlantic telephone cable was installed in 1956.

Henson joined United Utilities in 1959, with a master's degree in electrical engineering, doctoral work in mathematics and physics, and experience as chief engineer for Lincoln Telephone Company.

By 1960 United Utilities was the third-largest telephone holding company in the United States, with 467,000 telephones operating.

1962: Commercial telecommunications satellite: The Communications Satellite Act was officially passed in 1962, allowing telecommunications to finally go into space.

To transmit such calls, AT & T required the use of United's facilities, for which it agreed to pay $1.25 million for the 12-month period ending June 1, 1963.

The 1964 purchase from AT & T of a 45% interest in Inter-Mountain Telephone Company, servicing Virginia and eastern Tennessee, made United a major contender in the telephone industry.

United Transmission Inc. was a new venture developed in 1965 to design and operate community antenna television systems (CATV). Through United subsidiaries, communications systems were beginning to merge.

By far the most forward-looking venture United engaged in at the time was the December 1967 acquisition of Automated Data Services Company, Inc., renamed United Computing Systems, Inc.

By late 1968 North sold three-quarters of its services to the Bell System, other independents, industrial companies, and computer manufacturers.

A significant merger at this time was Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company, completed in March 1969.

More opportunities for expansion in business telephone equipment manufacturing came early in 1970 when the FCC changed some of its regulations.

In contrast, at the end of 1971 United's basic telephone operations accounted for 90% of company profits.

The unregulated businesses needed more attention, however; United Business Communications was not profitable in its second year, while United Computing barely edged into profitability by 1972.

1973: First modern-era mobile phone: Inventor Martin Cooper placed the first cellular mobile call in 1973 to his rival at Bell Labs, Joel Engel.

In a further move to position itself as a major competitor in telecommunications, United sold Central Kansas Power for an undisclosed amount in November 1977.

In November 1979 the company acquired Pittsburgh-based On-Line Systems, a $29.2 million company offering database management for defense, manufacturing, and energy-related applications.

In March 1980 the company launched Uninet Inc., the third-largest packet network to compete with similar services of GT & E's Telenet.

Because of recent acquisitions and increased competition from new players in computer-aided design, including IBM, United Information Systems lost $1.4 million in 1981.

In a further shuffle, in January 1983 United moved into the business of industrial and marine distribution with the purchase of Aeroflow Dynamics and its subsidiary Argo International.

The June 1984 purchase of Dallas-based United States Telephone Communications, Inc., also paved the way for United Telecom to offer broad-based service to business customers as well as long distance services.

A big opportunity came on July 1, 1986, when United Telecom and GTE Corporation, formerly GT & E, United's competitor for 50 years, entered into a joint venture.

By March 1987 US Sprint's losses forced GTE into a corner; Canada's Belzberg family bought much of GTE Sprint stock, hoping to make GTE sell its shares.

In 1988 Canadian Pacific bought out CN, sold 40% of the company to Rogers Communications Inc. and renamed the company Unitel.

United Telecom officially took over as Sprint's parent company, effective January 3, 1989, and completed the first nationwide fiber-optic network for coast-to-coast transmission.

Paul Henson, after 31 years with United Telecom, announced his retirement as chairman in April of 1990.

In 1993, 20% of Unitel was sold to AT&T Corporation of the United States.

Established in 1994 under the name Wholesale Airtime Inc., Southern California Telephone Company is a forward-thinking, fully-integrated telecommunications company offering state-of–the-art solutions to both business and residential customers.

1998: Mobile satellite hand-held phones: The first canopy of 64 satellites was put into place by a company called Iridium in 1998.

The Stentor Alliance was terminated effective December 31, 1999.

AT&T Canada sold its residential long-distance operations to Primus Telecommunications, and in 2003 went through a second bankruptcy-like reorganization.