NBTel was founded as the New Brunswick Telephone Company in 1888 after Bell Telephone Company of Canada

Bell Canada

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,...

's attempt to establish telephone service in the Maritime provinces failed. The company purchased the assets in New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, Canada from Bell Canada in 1889. In 1973, NBTel purchased the last independent telephone operator in New Brunswick, giving it a monopoly for the telephone service.
Owned by holding company Bruncor

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 ....

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

Saint John, New Brunswick

City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...

, until its merger to form Aliant

Aliant

Bell Aliant Inc. is a communications company providing services in various areas throughout eastern Canada, as Bell Aliant throughout Atlantic Canada, and under the NorthernTel, and Télébec brands in rural areas of Ontario and Quebec....

 in 1999.

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.
• NBTel was the first Canadian telephone company to provide internet service.
• NBTel was the first company to use a fully digital switching network in 1993.
• NBTel was the first company to offer all customers voice mail service.