Bell Canada
Encyclopedia
Bell Canada is a major Canadian
telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel
, Télébec
, and NorthernTel
, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier
for telephone
and DSL Internet
services in most of Canada
east of Manitoba
and in the northern territories, and a major competitive local exchange carrier
(primarily for enterprise customers) in the western provinces. Its subsidiary Bell Mobility
(including Solo Mobile
and Virgin Mobile Canada
) is one of Canada's "big three" mobile telecommunications providers, while Bell TV is the country's most popular direct-to-home satellite TV
provider. In a majority of its service territory, Bell Canada's principal competition is Rogers Communications
. The company, which serves a total of over 13 million phone lines, is headquartered in Montreal
, Quebec
.
Bell Canada is the one of the main assets of the conglomerate
BCE , also known as Bell Canada Enterprises. In addition to its core telecommunications operations, BCE owns Bell Media, which operates media
properties including the CTV Television Network
. BCE ranked number 262 on the 2011 edition of the Forbes Global 2000
list.
, who resided increasingly for most of his life in Nova Scotia
, Canada
, received the master patent for the telephone
in the United States in 1876 . Bell assigned 75% of the Canadian patent rights to his father, Melville Bell
, who, with a friend, Reverend Thomas Henderson, leased pairs of wooden hand telephones for use on private lines constructed by the client from, for example, a store to a nearby warehouse, or from a business to an executive's residence. The two gave a licence to Hugh Cossart Baker, Jr.
to lease telephones in Ontario.
In 1879, Melville Bell sold the rights to National Bell Telephone Company
in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and thus officially became one of the first regional operating companies of what was to become the Bell System
. Charles Fleetford Sise
, a Chicago businessman, was brought in as general manager, and The Bell Telephone Company of Canada Ltd. was founded in 1880. With a government-granted monopoly on Canadian long-distance telephone service, The Bell Telephone Company serviced 237,000 subscribers by 1914.
Since the early years of The Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Ltd., it was known colloquially as "The Bell" or "Bell Canada." On March 7, 1968, Canadian law renamed The Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Ltd., as Bell Canada.
to the foot of the Rocky Mountains
in what is now Alberta
. However, most of the attention given to meeting demand for service focused on major cities in Ontario
, Quebec
, and the Maritime Province
s.
Bell acquired interests in all Atlantic companies during the early 1960s, starting with Newfoundland Telephones (which later was organized as NewTel Communications
) on July 24, 1962. Bell acquired controlling interest in Maritime Telephone and Telegraph Company
, later known as MT&T, which also owned PEI-based Island Telephone
, and in Bruncorp, the parent company of NBTel
in 1966. The purchase of MT&T was made despite efforts of the Nova Scotia legislature on September 10, 1966, to limit the voting power of any shareholder to 1000 votes. Bell-owned MT&T absorbed some 120 independent companies, most serving less than 50 customers each. Bell-owned NewTel purchased the CNR-owned Terra Nova Tel in 1988.
Newtel, Bruncorp, MT&T and Island Tel later merged into Aliant (now Bell Aliant which also owns much of what were Bell Canada's more rural areas in Ontario and Quebec) in the late 1990s, in which Bell continues to own a stake.
) and Télébec
(now owned by Bell Canada via Bell Aliant) as well as some 20 small independent companies. As of 1980, Ontario still had some 30 independent companies, and Bell has not acquired any; the smaller ones were sold to larger independents with larger capital resources.
Having achieved a high level of development, Manitoba
moved to privatize its telephone utility and Alberta privatized Alberta Government Telephones
to create Telus
in the 1990s. Saskatchewan
continues to own SaskTel
as a crown corporation. Edmonton was served by a city-owned utility, EdTel, that was sold to Telus in 1995.
, served today by Telus
, was served by numerous small companies that mostly amalgamated to form BC Tel (the last known acquisition was the Okanagan Telephone Company in the late 1970s), which served the province from the 1960s until its sale to Telus. (The amalgamations produced one anomaly: Atlin
is surrounded by the territory of Northwestel
, implying that the company that established service there was acquired by a company serving territories further south.)
with an exchange at Iqaluit (then known as Frobisher Bay, in the territory now known as Nunavut
) in 1958, Canadian National Telecommunications, a subsidiary of Canadian National Railways, provided most of the telephone service in Canada's northern territories (specifically, Yukon, northern BC and the western NWT). CNR created Northwestel
in 1979, and Bell Canada Enterprises acquired the company in 1988 as a wholly owned subsidiary. Bell Canada sold its 22 exchanges in the eastern region of the NWT to Northwestel in 1992, and BCE transferred ownership of the company to Bell Canada in 1999. Northwestel's operating area was in 2001 opened to long distance competition (which has materialized only in the form of prepaid card business, and service to large national customers with some operating locations in the north) and in 2007 to resale of local telephone service (which has not yet occurred).
Northern British Columbia, northeastern Ontario and the James Bay region of northern Quebec were served by independent companies, though Bell Canada eventually provided service in more far-flung reaches of Ontario and Quebec, acquired ownership interests in companies serving large swaths of northwestern Quebec and northeastern Ontario, and in Northwestel.
industry in Canada: Bell Canada as a regional operating company (affiliated with AT&T, with an ownership stake of approximately 39%) and Northern Electric
as an equipment manufacturer (affiliated with Western Electric
, with an ownership stake of approximately 44%). The Bell Telephone Company of Canada and Northern Electric were structured similarly in Canada to the analogous portions of the Bell System in the United States; the regional operating company (Bell Canada) sold telephone services as a local exchange carrier, and Western Electric (Northern Electric) designed and manufactured telephone equipment.
As part of the consent decree signed in 1956 to resolve the antitrust lawsuit filed in 1949 by the United States Department of Justice, AT&T and the Bell System proper divested itself of Northern Electric
and Bell Canada.
Northern Electric renamed itself Northern Telecom in 1976, which in turn became Nortel Networks in 1998 with the acquisition of Bay Networks.
Bell Canada acquired 100 percent of Northern Electric in 1964; starting in 1973, Bell's ownership stake in Northern Electric was diminished through public stock offerings, though it retained majority control. In 1983, as a result of deregulation, Bell Canada Enterprises (later shortened to BCE) was formed as the parent company to Bell Canada and Northern Telecom. As a result of the stock transaction used by Northern Telecom to purchase Bay Networks, BCE ceased to be the majority owner of Nortel, and in 2000, BCE spun out its share of Nortel, distributing its holdings to its shareholders.
Between 1980 and 1997, the federal government fully deregulated the telecommunications industry and Bell Canada's monopoly largely ended. Today Bell Canada itself provides local phone service only in major city centres in Ontario
and Quebec
.
was formed to market e-commerce solutions. Capitalizing on the success of its Internet service provider division, Sympatico, in 1999 BCE formed a partnership with Lycos
to create an Internet portal for its customers.
Shortly after the AOLTime Warner
merger, BCE purchased the CTV
television network in 2000. In 2001, BCE acquired control of The Globe and Mail
, and combined it with CTV and the Sympatico-Lycos portal, its other content creation assets, to form Bell Globemedia. The desired synergies did not occur and the portal was sold back to Bell Canada in 2002. Bell Globemedia was highly profitable, however, and it was spun out as a separate company in August 2006. The new company assumed the name CTVglobemedia
in 2007.
In 2000, BCE acquired control of Teleglobe, an overseas carrier coveted by Bell since the early 1980s. The acquisition was a disaster as BCE lost billions of dollars financing Teleglobe. In 2002, BCE sold Teleglobe, and Jean Monty resigned. Michael Sabia
subsequently assumed the position of CEO.
(which was subsequently acquired by SBC). BCE also spun off operating units that it did not consider to be core to its business, including Emergis
in 2004, and Bell Globemedia
and Telesat Canada
in 2006.
On February 1, 2006, stating the need to remain competitive, Bell Canada announced job cuts of 3,000 to 4,000 employees by the end of 2006.
On April 28, BCE announced that CEO Michael Sabia was taking a 455% pay increase, his salary being raised from C$
1.21 million a year to $6.71 million a year. The pay included a $1.25 million salary, a $2.2 million bonus that Sabia converted to deferred share units, a long-term incentive payout of $3 million and other compensation, the filing shows. Bell Canada also posted record revenue increases for the previous fiscal year.
Under pressure from investors, on October 11, 2006, BCE announced it would be wound down, with its remaining assets converted to an income trust
. The new entity was planned to be named "Bell Canada Income Fund". As part of this restructuring, Bell Aliant offered to take Bell Nordiq private, while remaining separate from the new Bell trust. Due to announced changes in taxation law by the Canadian federal government, on December 12, 2006, BCE announced it would not proceed with its planned conversion to an income trust. It had planned to restructure, eliminating the BCE holding company, but this was put on hold due to attempts to privatize the company.
On April 30, 2007, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced its decision to allow pay phone rates for Bell Canada, Telus, Bell Aliant, SaskTel, and MTS Allstream to increase from 25 cents to 50 cents, starting as early as June 1. The CRTC also permitted local rural rates to increase by the lesser of the annual rate of inflation or five percent, and removed price caps on optional rural services, such as call display and voicemail.
On June 2, 2007, Bell Canada increased the cost of a local pay phone call to 50 cents when paid in cash and one dollar when paid by calling card or credit card,
Bell's first increase in pay phone rates since 1981.
Investment Board (with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts as one of the participants), a consortium led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
, and a consortium that included Cerberus Capital Management
.
On June 30, 2007, BCE accepted a bid of $42.75 per share in cash, for a total valuation of $51.7 billion, from the group led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
, and including Providence Equity Partners
, Madison Dearborn Partners, Merrill Lynch
Global Private Equity, and Toronto-Dominion Bank
. The proposed deal would have been the largest acquisition in Canadian history and the largest leveraged buyout ever.
The deal was approved by BCE shareholders,
Quebec Superior Court
(whose ruling was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal
, but was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada
),
and the CRTC, subject to certain conditions for its corporate governance structure to ensure that Bell remained under Canadian control.
Due to the tightening of the credit market caused by the subprime mortgage crisis
, the investment banks financing the deal—led by Citigroup
, Deutsche Bank
and the Royal Bank of Scotland
—started negotiations on May 16, 2008, to revise the terms of their loans with higher interest rates and greater restrictions to protect themselves. On July 4, 2008, BCE announced that a final agreement had been reached on the terms of the purchase, with all financing in place, and Michael Sabia left BCE, with George Cope
assuming the position of CEO on July 11.
On November 26, 2008, BCE announced that KPMG
had informed BCE that it would not be able to issue a statement on the solvency of the company after its privatization, one of the required conditions of the buyout. As a result, the purchase was cancelled.
purchasing the Global Television Network
, Vidéotron
launching its wireless telephone network with video content as a key selling point, and the enormous popularity of wireless and Internet video and other media streams at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics
, Bell once again sought to bring a content provider into its portfolio. In September 2010, Bell announced a deal to reacquire full control of the broadcasting properties owned by CTVglobemedia
including the CTV Television Network
. The other major asset of CTVglobemedia, The Globe and Mail
, will be 85% owned by the Thomson family
, with Bell retaining its 15% interest.
Through this acquisition, Bell responded to an increasing trend away from traditional cable and satellite delivery channels and towards new distribution methods over the Internet and wireless networks.
The CRTC approved the transaction in March 2011.
in America, on its policies for bandwidth throttling, censorship, misleading prices and usage-based billing.
Bell has also been heavily criticised by animal welfare organisations for sponsoring the Calgary Stampede, a famous rodeo, in which animals are routinely injured and killed.
. They formerly offered VoIP to customers, branded as "Digital Voice". Businesses can still obtain VoIP service.
provide voicemail
service as an optional feature for residences and businesses. Bell Prepaid and Solo Mobile
pay-per-use customers, however, receive a basic voice mail at no additional charge. The complimentary voice mail can store 5 messages of one minute each, for up to five days.
operates a cellular
network in all Canadian provinces. It also owns the entirety of Virgin Mobile Canada
. While it created the Solo Mobile
brand in 1999, Bell shut down all standalone Solo stores in 2011 while discontinuing third-party sales of all Solo phones in November 2011. The brand continues to be active for its current customers, but there are no incentives to encourage new subscriptions.
service provider. There is also a mobile TV service, Bell Mobile TV, and an IPTV
service, Bell Fibe TV
. The latter is currently only available in Toronto
and Montreal
.
Internet service in many areas where it offers phone service. DSL is offered in various speeds ranging from 500 Kbit/s to 25 Mbit/s download and 256 Kbit/s to 7 Mbit/s upload, depending on what the local infrastructure can support.
Bell began offering Fiber-to-the-node Internet access to some subscribers in 2010. Bell markets this service under the name "Fibe". Fibe regions can access all speeds in some cases, but some Fibe regions can only obtain 16 Mbit/s down and 1 Mbit/s up. Non-Fibe regions are limited to legacy DSL technology, supporting speeds of up to 7 Mbit/s down and 1 Mbit/s up.
recently launched its Smart Home Monitoring service. It is unknown if Bell will launch a similar service.
and CTV Two, along with 30 speciality television channels, Bell Media Radio which operates 35 radio stations across Canada and sympatico.ca. It also operates retail stores, as simply the Bell Store (formerly BellWorld in English Canada
and Espace Bell in Quebec
, and prior to 1999
, Bell Phonecentre/Téléboutique Bell).
BCE also bought The Source by Circuit City (which was renamed after the sale to The Source) and all assets of InterTAN
from bankrupt Circuit City.
In July 2006, Bell and former subsidiary Aliant completed a restructuring whereby Aliant, renamed Bell Aliant Regional Communications, took over Bell's wireline operations in much of Ontario and Quebec (while continuing to use the "Bell" name in those regions), as well as its 63% ownership in rural lines operator Bell Nordiq (a publicly traded income trust that controls NorthernTel
and Télébec
). These are in addition to Bell Aliant's operations in Atlantic Canada
. In turn, Bell has assumed responsibility for Bell Aliant's wireless and retail operations. Bell Aliant, now itself an income trust, is currently 44% owned by Bell.
Other company assets include Western Canada CLEC Bell West. BCE partially or fully owns 17 companies in the fields of telecommunications, media, and information technology.
Shifting its focus to IP
, Bell has in recent years deployed MPLS
on their nationwide fibre ring network to support consumer and enterprise-level IP applications, such as IPTV
and VoIP.
beavers to advertise its products from 2006 to 2008.
Coinciding with its advertising campaign as part of its sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bell introduced a new logo and minimalist ad style, with the slogans "Today just got better" (with emphasis on the suffix "er") in English Canada and "La vie est Bell" (a pun on "La vie est belle" — ) in French Canada. The font used in Bell's marketing is a custom typeface known as 'Bell Slim', by Canadian typeface designer Ian Brignell.
of BCE are:
Thomas O'Neill (chair), Barry Allen, André Bérard
, Ronald Brenneman, Sophie Brochu, Robert Brown, George Cope
, Anthony Fell
, Edward Lumley, Jim Prentice
, Robert Simmonds, Carole Taylor, and Paul Weiss.
Former BCE units:
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel
Northwestel
Northwestel Inc. is the incumbent local exchange carrier and long distance carrier in Northern Canada. The company name is a portmanteau, sometimes spelled NorthwesTel, for Northwest Telecommunications.-Modern corporate history:...
, Télébec
Télébec
Télébec is a telephone company located in the province of Quebec in Canada. It serves various sectors like the James Bay territory area, the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, parts of central and southern Quebec and parts of the Outaouais region....
, and NorthernTel
NorthernTel
NorthernTel is a telephone company in Ontario, Canada.NorthernTel began in April 1905 in New Liskeard, Ontario, as the Temiskaming Telephone Company. It grew by buying other regional telephone providers and became the Northern Telephone Company Ltd. in 1928...
, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier
Incumbent local exchange carrier
An ILEC, short for incumbent local exchange carrier, is a local telephone company in the United States that was in existence at the time of the breakup of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies , also known as the "Baby Bells." The ILEC is the former Bell System or Independent Telephone...
for telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
and DSL Internet
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
services in most of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
east of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and in the northern territories, and a major competitive local exchange carrier
Competitive local exchange carrier
A competitive local exchange carrier , in the United States, is a telecommunications provider company competing with other, already established carriers ....
(primarily for enterprise customers) in the western provinces. Its subsidiary Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada...
(including Solo Mobile
Solo Mobile
Solo Mobile is a mobile brand in Canada started by Bell Mobility in 2000. Solo is considered a discount wireless brand, offering low price monthly plans with some unlimited options in certain cities...
and Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Mobile Canada is a cellular telephone company that was launched on March 1, 2005 as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Bell Canada. Since May 7, 2009, it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Mobility. - Pre-launch :...
) is one of Canada's "big three" mobile telecommunications providers, while Bell TV is the country's most popular direct-to-home satellite TV
Direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...
provider. In a majority of its service territory, Bell Canada's principal competition is Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is one of Canada's largest communications companies, particularly in the field of wireless communications, cable television, home phone and internet with additional telecommunications and mass media assets...
. The company, which serves a total of over 13 million phone lines, is headquartered in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Bell Canada is the one of the main assets of the conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
BCE , also known as Bell Canada Enterprises. In addition to its core telecommunications operations, BCE owns Bell Media, which operates media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
properties including the CTV Television Network
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
. BCE ranked number 262 on the 2011 edition of the Forbes Global 2000
Forbes Global 2000
The Forbes Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The ranking is based on a mix of four metrics: sales, profit, assets and market value...
list.
History
Historically, Bell Canada has been one of Canada's most important and most powerful companies, and in 1975 was listed as the fifth largest in the country.Inception
Alexander Graham BellAlexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
, who resided increasingly for most of his life in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, received the master patent for the telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
in the United States in 1876 . Bell assigned 75% of the Canadian patent rights to his father, Melville Bell
Alexander Melville Bell
Alexander Melville Bell was a teacher and researcher of physiological phonetics and was the author of numerous works on orthoepy and elocution....
, who, with a friend, Reverend Thomas Henderson, leased pairs of wooden hand telephones for use on private lines constructed by the client from, for example, a store to a nearby warehouse, or from a business to an executive's residence. The two gave a licence to Hugh Cossart Baker, Jr.
Hugh Cossart Baker, Jr.
Hugh Cossart Baker, Jr. , Businessman, telephone pioneer.On June 20, 1877, Hugh Cossart Baker, Jr. started up the first commercial telephone service in Canada in the city of Hamilton, Ontario. Then in 1878, he made the first telephone exchange in the British Empire...
to lease telephones in Ontario.
In 1879, Melville Bell sold the rights to National Bell Telephone Company
Bell Telephone Company
The Bell Telephone Company, a common law joint stock company, was organized in Boston, Massachusetts on July 9, 1877 by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who also helped organize a sister company — the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company...
in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and thus officially became one of the first regional operating companies of what was to become the Bell System
Bell System
The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
. Charles Fleetford Sise
Charles Fleetford Sise
Charles Fleetford Sise Sr. was an American-Canadian businessman and the founding president of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada. First Board of directors, The Northern Electric and Manufacturing Company .-See also:* Charles Fleetford Sise Jr...
, a Chicago businessman, was brought in as general manager, and The Bell Telephone Company of Canada Ltd. was founded in 1880. With a government-granted monopoly on Canadian long-distance telephone service, The Bell Telephone Company serviced 237,000 subscribers by 1914.
Since the early years of The Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Ltd., it was known colloquially as "The Bell" or "Bell Canada." On March 7, 1968, Canadian law renamed The Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Ltd., as Bell Canada.
Competition and territory reduction
Bell Canada originally extended lines clear from Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
to the foot of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
in what is now Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. However, most of the attention given to meeting demand for service focused on major cities in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and the Maritime Province
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
s.
Atlantic Canada
During the late 19th century, Bell sold its Atlantic operations in the three Maritime provinces, where many small independent companies also operated and eventually came under the ownership of three provincial companies. Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada with several private companies, and a government operation that was transferred to the control of Canadian National Railways.Bell acquired interests in all Atlantic companies during the early 1960s, starting with Newfoundland Telephones (which later was organized as NewTel Communications
NewTel Communications
NewTel Communications was a telephone, internet and cellular service provider in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Originally, as the Avalon Telephone Company, it served the Avalon Peninsula; it became the Newfoundland Telephone Company, also serving southwestern Newfoundland ,...
) on July 24, 1962. Bell acquired controlling interest in Maritime Telephone and Telegraph Company
Maritime Telephone and Telegraph Company
Maritime Telephone and Telegraph Company was founded around 1910 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and provided telecommunications solutions to Nova Scotia until 1998 when it merged with Island Telecom, NBTel, and NewTel Communications to form Aliant .Many payphones in Nova Scotia are still MTT-branded.In...
, later known as MT&T, which also owned PEI-based Island Telephone
Island Telecom
Island Telecom was a telephone service provider in Prince Edward Island.Founded in 1885 as the Prince Edward Island Telephone Company , the company formed a formal alliance with Nova Scotia-based MT&T early on, which resulted in the agreement to share the 902 area code...
, and in Bruncorp, the parent company of NBTel
NBTel
NBTel was founded as the New Brunswick Telephone Company in 1888 after Bell Telephone Company of Canada's attempt to establish telephone service in the Maritime provinces failed. The company purchased the assets in New Brunswick, Canada from Bell Canada in 1889...
in 1966. The purchase of MT&T was made despite efforts of the Nova Scotia legislature on September 10, 1966, to limit the voting power of any shareholder to 1000 votes. Bell-owned MT&T absorbed some 120 independent companies, most serving less than 50 customers each. Bell-owned NewTel purchased the CNR-owned Terra Nova Tel in 1988.
Newtel, Bruncorp, MT&T and Island Tel later merged into Aliant (now Bell Aliant which also owns much of what were Bell Canada's more rural areas in Ontario and Quebec) in the late 1990s, in which Bell continues to own a stake.
Quebec and Ontario
Independent companies appeared in many areas of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces without adequate Bell Canada service. Bell went on during the 20th century to acquire most of the independent companies in Ontario and Quebec. Quebec, however, still has large swaths of relatively rural areas served by Telus Québec (formerly Québec Telephone, later acquired by TelusTELUS
Telus is a national telecommunications company in Canada that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, voice, entertainment, video, and satellite television. The company is based in Burnaby, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver...
) and Télébec
Télébec
Télébec is a telephone company located in the province of Quebec in Canada. It serves various sectors like the James Bay territory area, the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, parts of central and southern Quebec and parts of the Outaouais region....
(now owned by Bell Canada via Bell Aliant) as well as some 20 small independent companies. As of 1980, Ontario still had some 30 independent companies, and Bell has not acquired any; the smaller ones were sold to larger independents with larger capital resources.
Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan
The three prairie provinces, at separate times, acquired Bell Canada operations and formed provincial utility services, investing to develop proper telephone services throughout those provinces; Bell Canada's investment in the prairies had been scant or insufficient relative to growth, and all three had various local telephone companies. The Alberta government's Alberta Government Telephones Commission and Manitoba Government Telephones purchased the Bell operations of their provinces in 1908. Saskatchewan's Department of Railways, Telegraphs and Telephones, established in June 1908, purchased the Bell operations on October 1, 1909; all three provinces' government operations eventually acquired the independent companies.Having achieved a high level of development, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
moved to privatize its telephone utility and Alberta privatized Alberta Government Telephones
Alberta Government Telephones
Alberta Government Telephones was formed by the Liberal government of Alexander Cameron Rutherford in 1906 following the acquisitions by the government of several independent telephone companies...
to create Telus
TELUS
Telus is a national telecommunications company in Canada that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, voice, entertainment, video, and satellite television. The company is based in Burnaby, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver...
in the 1990s. Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
continues to own SaskTel
SaskTel
Saskatchewan Telecommunications is a provincial Crown Corporation operating under the authority of the Saskatchewan Telecommunications Act. It is the only remaining Crown Corporation in the Canadian telecommunications industry....
as a crown corporation. Edmonton was served by a city-owned utility, EdTel, that was sold to Telus in 1995.
British Columbia
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, served today by Telus
TELUS
Telus is a national telecommunications company in Canada that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, voice, entertainment, video, and satellite television. The company is based in Burnaby, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver...
, was served by numerous small companies that mostly amalgamated to form BC Tel (the last known acquisition was the Okanagan Telephone Company in the late 1970s), which served the province from the 1960s until its sale to Telus. (The amalgamations produced one anomaly: Atlin
Atlin, British Columbia
Atlin is a community in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located on the eastern shore of Atlin Lake. In addition to continued gold-mining activity, Atlin is a tourist destination for fishing, hiking and Heliskiing. As of 2004, there are 450 permanent residents.The name comes from Áa Tlein,...
is surrounded by the territory of Northwestel
Northwestel
Northwestel Inc. is the incumbent local exchange carrier and long distance carrier in Northern Canada. The company name is a portmanteau, sometimes spelled NorthwesTel, for Northwest Telecommunications.-Modern corporate history:...
, implying that the company that established service there was acquired by a company serving territories further south.)
Northern Canada
Although Bell Canada entered the Northwest TerritoriesNorthwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
with an exchange at Iqaluit (then known as Frobisher Bay, in the territory now known as Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
) in 1958, Canadian National Telecommunications, a subsidiary of Canadian National Railways, provided most of the telephone service in Canada's northern territories (specifically, Yukon, northern BC and the western NWT). CNR created Northwestel
Northwestel
Northwestel Inc. is the incumbent local exchange carrier and long distance carrier in Northern Canada. The company name is a portmanteau, sometimes spelled NorthwesTel, for Northwest Telecommunications.-Modern corporate history:...
in 1979, and Bell Canada Enterprises acquired the company in 1988 as a wholly owned subsidiary. Bell Canada sold its 22 exchanges in the eastern region of the NWT to Northwestel in 1992, and BCE transferred ownership of the company to Bell Canada in 1999. Northwestel's operating area was in 2001 opened to long distance competition (which has materialized only in the form of prepaid card business, and service to large national customers with some operating locations in the north) and in 2007 to resale of local telephone service (which has not yet occurred).
Northern British Columbia, northeastern Ontario and the James Bay region of northern Quebec were served by independent companies, though Bell Canada eventually provided service in more far-flung reaches of Ontario and Quebec, acquired ownership interests in companies serving large swaths of northwestern Quebec and northeastern Ontario, and in Northwestel.
Divestiture and deregulation
The Bell System had two main companies in the telephoneTelephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
industry in Canada: Bell Canada as a regional operating company (affiliated with AT&T, with an ownership stake of approximately 39%) and Northern Electric
Nortel
Nortel Networks Corporation, formerly known as Northern Telecom Limited and sometimes known simply as Nortel, was a multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturer headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada...
as an equipment manufacturer (affiliated with Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
, with an ownership stake of approximately 44%). The Bell Telephone Company of Canada and Northern Electric were structured similarly in Canada to the analogous portions of the Bell System in the United States; the regional operating company (Bell Canada) sold telephone services as a local exchange carrier, and Western Electric (Northern Electric) designed and manufactured telephone equipment.
As part of the consent decree signed in 1956 to resolve the antitrust lawsuit filed in 1949 by the United States Department of Justice, AT&T and the Bell System proper divested itself of Northern Electric
Nortel
Nortel Networks Corporation, formerly known as Northern Telecom Limited and sometimes known simply as Nortel, was a multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturer headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada...
and Bell Canada.
Northern Electric renamed itself Northern Telecom in 1976, which in turn became Nortel Networks in 1998 with the acquisition of Bay Networks.
Bell Canada acquired 100 percent of Northern Electric in 1964; starting in 1973, Bell's ownership stake in Northern Electric was diminished through public stock offerings, though it retained majority control. In 1983, as a result of deregulation, Bell Canada Enterprises (later shortened to BCE) was formed as the parent company to Bell Canada and Northern Telecom. As a result of the stock transaction used by Northern Telecom to purchase Bay Networks, BCE ceased to be the majority owner of Nortel, and in 2000, BCE spun out its share of Nortel, distributing its holdings to its shareholders.
Between 1980 and 1997, the federal government fully deregulated the telecommunications industry and Bell Canada's monopoly largely ended. Today Bell Canada itself provides local phone service only in major city centres in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Convergence strategy / Internet boom and bust
When Jean Monty assumed the job of CEO in 1998, he pursued a convergence strategy, attempting to combine both content creation and distribution within BCE, and to take greater advantage of the emerging Internet market. BCE EmergisEmergis
Emergis Inc. is a Canadian e-Business company dealing with interactions between companies and electronic commerce, now owned by Telus.The company is linked to the merger of Bell Canada's Electronic Business Solutions and MPACT Immedia into BCE Emergis in 1998 and spun off as an independent unit on...
was formed to market e-commerce solutions. Capitalizing on the success of its Internet service provider division, Sympatico, in 1999 BCE formed a partnership with Lycos
Lycos
Lycos, Inc. is a search engine and web portal established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.-Corporate history:...
to create an Internet portal for its customers.
Shortly after the AOLTime Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
merger, BCE purchased the CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
television network in 2000. In 2001, BCE acquired control of The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, and combined it with CTV and the Sympatico-Lycos portal, its other content creation assets, to form Bell Globemedia. The desired synergies did not occur and the portal was sold back to Bell Canada in 2002. Bell Globemedia was highly profitable, however, and it was spun out as a separate company in August 2006. The new company assumed the name CTVglobemedia
CTVglobemedia
CTVglobemedia , was one of Canada's largest private media companies. Its operations include newspaper publishing , television broadcasting and production , radio broadcasting , and their respective Internet properties.Originally established by BCE and the Thomson family in 2001 combining CTV Inc.,...
in 2007.
In 2000, BCE acquired control of Teleglobe, an overseas carrier coveted by Bell since the early 1980s. The acquisition was a disaster as BCE lost billions of dollars financing Teleglobe. In 2002, BCE sold Teleglobe, and Jean Monty resigned. Michael Sabia
Michael Sabia
Michael John Sabia, is a Canadian businessman. He is the current CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Sabia formerly served as CEO of Bell Canada from 2002 through 2008.-Personal life:...
subsequently assumed the position of CEO.
Post Teleglobe: Refocus on core business
Michael Sabia refocused BCE on its core telecommunications business, prompting BCE to buy back the 20% share in Bell Canada that it had sold in 1999 to AmeritechAmeritech
AT&T Teleholdings, Inc., formerly known as Ameritech Corporation , was a U.S. telecommunications company that arose out of the 1984 AT&T divestiture. Ameritech was one of the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies that was created following the breakup of the Bell System...
(which was subsequently acquired by SBC). BCE also spun off operating units that it did not consider to be core to its business, including Emergis
Emergis
Emergis Inc. is a Canadian e-Business company dealing with interactions between companies and electronic commerce, now owned by Telus.The company is linked to the merger of Bell Canada's Electronic Business Solutions and MPACT Immedia into BCE Emergis in 1998 and spun off as an independent unit on...
in 2004, and Bell Globemedia
CTVglobemedia
CTVglobemedia , was one of Canada's largest private media companies. Its operations include newspaper publishing , television broadcasting and production , radio broadcasting , and their respective Internet properties.Originally established by BCE and the Thomson family in 2001 combining CTV Inc.,...
and Telesat Canada
Telesat Canada
Telesat Canada is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario as well as having offices in the United States and Brazil.On October 5, 2007 Loral Space & Communications Inc...
in 2006.
On February 1, 2006, stating the need to remain competitive, Bell Canada announced job cuts of 3,000 to 4,000 employees by the end of 2006.
On April 28, BCE announced that CEO Michael Sabia was taking a 455% pay increase, his salary being raised from C$
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
1.21 million a year to $6.71 million a year. The pay included a $1.25 million salary, a $2.2 million bonus that Sabia converted to deferred share units, a long-term incentive payout of $3 million and other compensation, the filing shows. Bell Canada also posted record revenue increases for the previous fiscal year.
Under pressure from investors, on October 11, 2006, BCE announced it would be wound down, with its remaining assets converted to an income trust
Income trust
An income trust is an investment that may hold equities, debt instruments, royalty interests or real properties. The trust can receive interest, royalty or lease payments from an operating entity carrying on a business, as well as dividends and a return of capital.The main attraction of income...
. The new entity was planned to be named "Bell Canada Income Fund". As part of this restructuring, Bell Aliant offered to take Bell Nordiq private, while remaining separate from the new Bell trust. Due to announced changes in taxation law by the Canadian federal government, on December 12, 2006, BCE announced it would not proceed with its planned conversion to an income trust. It had planned to restructure, eliminating the BCE holding company, but this was put on hold due to attempts to privatize the company.
On April 30, 2007, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced its decision to allow pay phone rates for Bell Canada, Telus, Bell Aliant, SaskTel, and MTS Allstream to increase from 25 cents to 50 cents, starting as early as June 1. The CRTC also permitted local rural rates to increase by the lesser of the annual rate of inflation or five percent, and removed price caps on optional rural services, such as call display and voicemail.
On June 2, 2007, Bell Canada increased the cost of a local pay phone call to 50 cents when paid in cash and one dollar when paid by calling card or credit card,
Bell's first increase in pay phone rates since 1981.
Privatization target
Due to its stagnant share price, starting in April 2007, BCE was courted for acquisition by pension funds and private equity groups, including a consortium led by the Canada Pension PlanCanada Pension Plan
The Canada Pension Plan is a contributory, earnings-related social insurance program. It forms one of the two major components of Canada's public retirement income system, the other component being Old Age Security...
Investment Board (with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts as one of the participants), a consortium led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan , commonly referred to as Teachers, is the organization responsible for administering pensions for public school teachers of the Canadian province of Ontario. The OTPP also invests the plan's pension fund, making it one of the largest and most powerful investment...
, and a consortium that included Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management
Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the United States. The firm is based in New York City, and run by -year-old financier Steve Feinberg. Former U.S...
.
On June 30, 2007, BCE accepted a bid of $42.75 per share in cash, for a total valuation of $51.7 billion, from the group led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan , commonly referred to as Teachers, is the organization responsible for administering pensions for public school teachers of the Canadian province of Ontario. The OTPP also invests the plan's pension fund, making it one of the largest and most powerful investment...
, and including Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
, Madison Dearborn Partners, Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
Global Private Equity, and Toronto-Dominion Bank
Toronto-Dominion Bank
The Toronto-Dominion Bank , is the second-largest bank in Canada by market capitalization and based on assets. It is also the sixth largest bank in North America. Commonly known as TD and operating as TD Bank Group, the bank was created in 1955 through the merger of the Bank of Toronto and the...
. The proposed deal would have been the largest acquisition in Canadian history and the largest leveraged buyout ever.
The deal was approved by BCE shareholders,
Quebec Superior Court
Quebec Superior Court
Quebec Superior Court is the highest trial Court in the Province of Quebec, Canada. It consists of 144 judges who are appointed by the federal government.Chief Justices : [partial listing]* Edward Bowen...
(whose ruling was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal
Quebec Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal for Quebec is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada....
, but was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
),
and the CRTC, subject to certain conditions for its corporate governance structure to ensure that Bell remained under Canadian control.
Due to the tightening of the credit market caused by the subprime mortgage crisis
Subprime mortgage crisis
The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of the late-2000s financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backed by said mortgages....
, the investment banks financing the deal—led by Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
, Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
and the Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
—started negotiations on May 16, 2008, to revise the terms of their loans with higher interest rates and greater restrictions to protect themselves. On July 4, 2008, BCE announced that a final agreement had been reached on the terms of the purchase, with all financing in place, and Michael Sabia left BCE, with George Cope
George Cope
George A. Cope is the CEO of BCE/Bell Canada, achieving that position aged 47 as part of the thirty five billion dollar leveraged buyout led by Providence Equity and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund in 2008. He led a competitor, Telus Mobility, before becoming President at Bell in 2005. He...
assuming the position of CEO on July 11.
On November 26, 2008, BCE announced that KPMG
KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
had informed BCE that it would not be able to issue a statement on the solvency of the company after its privatization, one of the required conditions of the buyout. As a result, the purchase was cancelled.
Convergence and consolidation, round two
With Shaw CommunicationsShaw Communications
Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...
purchasing the Global Television Network
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
, Vidéotron
Vidéotron
Vidéotron GP is a Canadian integrated telecommunications company active in cable television, interactive multimedia development, video on demand, cable telephony, wireless communication and Internet access services. Currently, the company primarily serves Quebec, as well as the francophone...
launching its wireless telephone network with video content as a key selling point, and the enormous popularity of wireless and Internet video and other media streams at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
, Bell once again sought to bring a content provider into its portfolio. In September 2010, Bell announced a deal to reacquire full control of the broadcasting properties owned by CTVglobemedia
CTVglobemedia
CTVglobemedia , was one of Canada's largest private media companies. Its operations include newspaper publishing , television broadcasting and production , radio broadcasting , and their respective Internet properties.Originally established by BCE and the Thomson family in 2001 combining CTV Inc.,...
including the CTV Television Network
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
. The other major asset of CTVglobemedia, The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, will be 85% owned by the Thomson family
The Woodbridge Company
The Woodbridge Company Limited is a Canadian private holding company and the principal and controlling shareholder of Thomson Reuters...
, with Bell retaining its 15% interest.
Through this acquisition, Bell responded to an increasing trend away from traditional cable and satellite delivery channels and towards new distribution methods over the Internet and wireless networks.
The CRTC approved the transaction in March 2011.
Criticism
Bell Canada has been criticized in a similar matter to ComcastComcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
in America, on its policies for bandwidth throttling, censorship, misleading prices and usage-based billing.
Bell has also been heavily criticised by animal welfare organisations for sponsoring the Calgary Stampede, a famous rodeo, in which animals are routinely injured and killed.
Services
Bell Canada provides many different types of telecommunications services.Voice
Bell Canada provides standard voice servicePlain old telephone service
Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....
. They formerly offered VoIP to customers, branded as "Digital Voice". Businesses can still obtain VoIP service.
Voicemail
Bell Home Phone and Bell MobilityBell Mobility
Bell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada...
provide voicemail
Voicemail
Voicemail is a computer based system that allows users and subscribers to exchange personal voice messages; to select and deliver voice information; and to process transactions relating to individuals, organizations, products and services, using an ordinary telephone...
service as an optional feature for residences and businesses. Bell Prepaid and Solo Mobile
Solo Mobile
Solo Mobile is a mobile brand in Canada started by Bell Mobility in 2000. Solo is considered a discount wireless brand, offering low price monthly plans with some unlimited options in certain cities...
pay-per-use customers, however, receive a basic voice mail at no additional charge. The complimentary voice mail can store 5 messages of one minute each, for up to five days.
Wireless
Bell MobilityBell Mobility
Bell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada...
operates a cellular
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
network in all Canadian provinces. It also owns the entirety of Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Mobile Canada is a cellular telephone company that was launched on March 1, 2005 as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Bell Canada. Since May 7, 2009, it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Mobility. - Pre-launch :...
. While it created the Solo Mobile
Solo Mobile
Solo Mobile is a mobile brand in Canada started by Bell Mobility in 2000. Solo is considered a discount wireless brand, offering low price monthly plans with some unlimited options in certain cities...
brand in 1999, Bell shut down all standalone Solo stores in 2011 while discontinuing third-party sales of all Solo phones in November 2011. The brand continues to be active for its current customers, but there are no incentives to encourage new subscriptions.
Television
Formerly known as ExpressVu, Bell TV is a satellite televisionSatellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
service provider. There is also a mobile TV service, Bell Mobile TV, and an IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
service, Bell Fibe TV
Bell Fibe TV
Bell Fibe TV is an IP-based television service offered by Bell Canada in Ontario and Quebec. It is bundled with Bell Fibe Internet, and uses the Microsoft Mediaroom platform....
. The latter is currently only available in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Internet access
Bell Internet provides high speed DSLDigital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
Internet service in many areas where it offers phone service. DSL is offered in various speeds ranging from 500 Kbit/s to 25 Mbit/s download and 256 Kbit/s to 7 Mbit/s upload, depending on what the local infrastructure can support.
Bell began offering Fiber-to-the-node Internet access to some subscribers in 2010. Bell markets this service under the name "Fibe". Fibe regions can access all speeds in some cases, but some Fibe regions can only obtain 16 Mbit/s down and 1 Mbit/s up. Non-Fibe regions are limited to legacy DSL technology, supporting speeds of up to 7 Mbit/s down and 1 Mbit/s up.
Legacy
Bell used to offer Bell Home Monitoring, also known as Bell Gardium. Competitor Rogers CommunicationsRogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is one of Canada's largest communications companies, particularly in the field of wireless communications, cable television, home phone and internet with additional telecommunications and mass media assets...
recently launched its Smart Home Monitoring service. It is unknown if Bell will launch a similar service.
Assets
BCE operates Bell Media, one of Canada's largest privately held media companies which owns the Canadian television networks, CTVCTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
and CTV Two, along with 30 speciality television channels, Bell Media Radio which operates 35 radio stations across Canada and sympatico.ca. It also operates retail stores, as simply the Bell Store (formerly BellWorld in English Canada
English Canada
English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following:# English-speaking Canadians, as opposed to French-speaking Canadians. It is employed when comparing English- and French-language literature, media, or art...
and Espace Bell in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and prior to 1999
1999 in Canada
Events from the year 1999 in Canada.-January to June:*January 1 - An avalanche destroys a school gymnasium during New Year's celebrations in Kangguspoo in far northern Quebec, killing 9.*February 9 - Brian Tobin's Liberals are re-elected in Newfoundland...
, Bell Phonecentre/Téléboutique Bell).
BCE also bought The Source by Circuit City (which was renamed after the sale to The Source) and all assets of InterTAN
InterTAN
InterTAN Canada Ltd. was a Canadian consumer electronics retailer that operated stores under the banner "The Source by Circuit City" and a single "THS Studio" location. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Circuit City Stores Inc., as of May 19, 2004. InterTAN is based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada...
from bankrupt Circuit City.
In July 2006, Bell and former subsidiary Aliant completed a restructuring whereby Aliant, renamed Bell Aliant Regional Communications, took over Bell's wireline operations in much of Ontario and Quebec (while continuing to use the "Bell" name in those regions), as well as its 63% ownership in rural lines operator Bell Nordiq (a publicly traded income trust that controls NorthernTel
NorthernTel
NorthernTel is a telephone company in Ontario, Canada.NorthernTel began in April 1905 in New Liskeard, Ontario, as the Temiskaming Telephone Company. It grew by buying other regional telephone providers and became the Northern Telephone Company Ltd. in 1928...
and Télébec
Télébec
Télébec is a telephone company located in the province of Quebec in Canada. It serves various sectors like the James Bay territory area, the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, parts of central and southern Quebec and parts of the Outaouais region....
). These are in addition to Bell Aliant's operations in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
. In turn, Bell has assumed responsibility for Bell Aliant's wireless and retail operations. Bell Aliant, now itself an income trust, is currently 44% owned by Bell.
Other company assets include Western Canada CLEC Bell West. BCE partially or fully owns 17 companies in the fields of telecommunications, media, and information technology.
Shifting its focus to IP
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
, Bell has in recent years deployed MPLS
Multiprotocol Label Switching
Multiprotocol Label Switching is a mechanism in high-performance telecommunications networks that directs data from one network node to the next based on short path labels rather than long network addresses, avoiding complex lookups in a routing table. The labels identify virtual links between...
on their nationwide fibre ring network to support consumer and enterprise-level IP applications, such as IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
and VoIP.
Marketing
Bell Canada created the Frank and GordonFrank and Gordon
Frank and Gordon are fictional beavers that were the focal point of Bell Canada's brand and marketing strategy from 2005 to 2008....
beavers to advertise its products from 2006 to 2008.
Coinciding with its advertising campaign as part of its sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bell introduced a new logo and minimalist ad style, with the slogans "Today just got better" (with emphasis on the suffix "er") in English Canada and "La vie est Bell" (a pun on "La vie est belle" — ) in French Canada. The font used in Bell's marketing is a custom typeface known as 'Bell Slim', by Canadian typeface designer Ian Brignell.
Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of BCE are:
Thomas O'Neill (chair), Barry Allen, André Bérard
André Bérard
André Bérard, OC, OQ is a Canadian businessman and former President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Canada....
, Ronald Brenneman, Sophie Brochu, Robert Brown, George Cope
George Cope
George A. Cope is the CEO of BCE/Bell Canada, achieving that position aged 47 as part of the thirty five billion dollar leveraged buyout led by Providence Equity and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund in 2008. He led a competitor, Telus Mobility, before becoming President at Bell in 2005. He...
, Anthony Fell
Anthony S. Fell
Anthony S. Fell, OC is a Canadian businessman and chairman of RBC Capital Markets.From 1980 to 1998, he was the Chief Executive Officer of RBC Dominion Securities Limited. He sits on the board of directors of multiple corporations, including Bell Canada Enterprises, CAE, and Loblaw Companies Ltd....
, Edward Lumley, Jim Prentice
Jim Prentice
James "Jim" Prentice, PC, QC is a Canadian lawyer, and politician. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada...
, Robert Simmonds, Carole Taylor, and Paul Weiss.
See also
- American Telephone & TelegraphAmerican Telephone & TelegraphAT&T Corp., originally American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American telecommunications company that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. AT&T is the oldest telecommunications company...
, AT&T, an earlier parent and successor to American Bell - Bell CentreBell CentreThe Bell Centre , formerly known as the Molson Centre , is a sports and entertainment complex in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It opened on March 16, 1996 after nearly three years under construction...
, a hockey arena in Montreal - Bell MobilityBell MobilityBell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada...
, the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada - Bell SystemBell SystemThe Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
, the Bell Telephone / AT&T-led companies which provided phone services - Bell Tower, a skyscraper in Edmonton
- International Bell Telephone CompanyInternational Bell Telephone CompanyThe International Bell Telephone Company of Brussels, Belgium, was created in 1879 by the National Bell Telephone Company of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, initially to sell imported telephones and switchboards in Continental Europe....
, the Bell Telephone's early European division - National Bell Telephone Company, the very earliest parent company
- Telephone Pavilion (Expo 67), also known as the Bell Telephone Pavilion
Former BCE units:
- NortelNortelNortel Networks Corporation, formerly known as Northern Telecom Limited and sometimes known simply as Nortel, was a multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturer headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada...
– formerly Northern Telecom and Northern Electric - Teleglobe Canada Inc – now VSNL International CanadaVSNL International CanadaVSNL International Canada is an international telco carrier. The company is a subsidiary of Tata Communications, part of India's Tata Group. Part of their recent work has involved the updating of the CANTAT transatlantic cable system that connects the United Kingdom and Newfoundland under the...
External links
- Bell Canada Official Website
- Bell Canada Enterprises
- Bell Telephone Company of Canada - public historical documents
- CRTC chart of Bell Canada's assets
- Bell Canada pixel art ad campaign
- Operator. May I help you?: Bell Canada's 125 Years – Bell Canada's origins (illustrated with many early photographs)