The New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited (operating as NBTel) was a

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

company that operated in the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

province of

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. The company was founded in 1888 after Bell Telephone Company of Canada's attempt to establish telephone service in

the Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

failed and purchased Bell Canada's New Brunswick assets in 1889. In 1973, NBTel purchased the last independent telephone operator in New Brunswick, giving it a monopoly for telephone service in the province. The N

In 1924, the company built a telephone exchange in

Sackville, New Brunswick Sackville is a former town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Tantramar, New Brunswick, Tantramar. Sackville is home to Mount Allison University, a primarily undergraduate libe ...

. 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 The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

. Owned by holding company

Bruncor Bruncor, based in Saint John, New Brunswick was a Canadian telecommunications holding company and the parent company of NBTel. Bruncor merged in 1999 with 3 other telecommunication companies in Atlantic Canada to form Aliant (now Bell Aliant). ...

, which Bell Canada gained a controlling interest in during the 1960s, NBTel was based in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

, until its merger with the other

Stentor Alliance The Stentor Alliance was a formal alliance of Canada's major telecommunications companies, specifically its incumbent local exchange carriers. It derives its name from the Greek mythological figure Stentor. The system originally formed in 1931 a ...

companies in Atlantic Canada to form Aliant in 1999. In 2006, it is now known as

Bell Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for Telecommunications in Canada, telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atl ...

Firsts

* NBTel was the first telephone company in Canada to be given

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

approval to provide television services in 1998 and was the first to launch this into service in 1999. * NBTel was the first Canadian telephone company to provide internet service. * In 1993, NBTel became the first telephone company in North America to use a fully digital switching network. * NBTel was the first company to offer all customers voice mail service.

References

Information on NBTel at acssoftware.com

External links

New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited - Canadian Corporate Reports
Defunct telecommunications companies of Canada Companies based in Saint John, New Brunswick Bell Aliant Canadian companies established in 1888 Telecommunications companies disestablished in 1999 Telecommunications companies established in 1888 1999 disestablishments in New Brunswick {{canada-company-stub 1888 establishments in New Brunswick