NBTel

The New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited (operating as NBTel) was a telecommunications company that operated in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The company was founded in 1888 after Bell Telephone Company of Canada's attempt to establish telephone service in the Maritimes failed and purchased Bell Canada's New Brunswick assets in 1889.^[2] In 1973, NBTel purchased the last independent telephone operator in New Brunswick, giving it a monopoly for telephone service in the province.^[2]

NBTel building in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick.

NB Tel, Inc.

NBTel Logo used until 2002 when it became a part of Aliant
Formerly	New Brunswick Telephone Company (1888-1998)
Industry	Telecommunications
Predecessor	Dominion Telegraph Company, Western Union, Bell Telephone Company (NB Assets acquired 1889)
Founded	April 6, 1888; 136 years ago (1888-04-06) in Saint John, Canada
Defunct	May 9, 1999 (1999-05-09)
Fate	Merger
Successor	Aliant Inc.
Headquarters	Saint John , Canada
Area served	New Brunswick
Products	Fixed line and mobile telephony Internet services Digital television Radio broadcasting
Brands	NB Tel, NB Tel Mobility, AIBN, BrunNet, NBNet, iWave
Revenue	$522.480,000[1] (1998)
Operating income	$118,715,000[1] (1998)
Net income	$54,766,000[1] (1998)
Parent	Bruncor
Divisions	NB Tel Mobility X Wave
Website	http://nbtel.nb.ca (defunct)

In 1924, the company built a telephone exchange in Sackville, New Brunswick. An extension was made in 1961 in order to house more equipment. Two years later, the building was sold to the Maritime Conference of the United Church of Canada.^[3]

NBTel Phone Booth

Owned by holding company Bruncor, which Bell Canada gained a controlling interest in during the 1960s, NBTel was based in Saint John, New Brunswick, until its merger with the other Stentor Alliance companies in Atlantic Canada to form Aliant in 1999. In 2006, it is now known as Bell Aliant.

Firsts

• NBTel was the first telephone company in Canada to be given Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approval to provide television services in 1998 and was the first to launch this into service in 1999.^[4][5][6]
• NBTel was the first Canadian telephone company to provide internet service.^[7][8]
• In 1993, NBTel became the first telephone company in North America to use a fully digital switching network.^[2]
• NBTel was the first company to offer all customers voice mail service.^[9]

References

• Information on NBTel at acssoftware.com
• Information on NBTel at informationbuilders.com

1. "Split Rate Base Income Statement" (XLS). view.officeapps.live.com. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
2. "Case Study: The New Brunswick Telephone Company" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
3. "Historic Sites: 20th Century: NBTel Building". tantramarheritage.ca. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
4. "NBTel To Use IMagicTV'S Software To Enable Interactive TV"
5. "Achieving stable and reliable IPTV services over the network"
6. Telecom Decision CRTC 98-7
7. "Bob Justason"
8. "Bob Justason | Mariner Partners". web.archive.org. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
9. "New Brunswick-born innovations continue to enrich our lives". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.

External links

• New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited - Canadian Corporate Reports