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Nortel History - 1970 to 1979
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1971 - Reinventing the R&D Culture
Toronto native Don Chisholm
takes the helm at BNR and stamps the organization with his scientific
genius and down-to-earth management style. Under his leadership,
BNR adopts a graduate university campus atmosphere that nurtures
creative thought and esprit de corps. By the mid 1970s, 75 percent
of Northern's sales were of its own designs, compared to less
than 10 percent in the 1960s. |
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1971 - Aggressive leadership for change
John Lobb, who turned the failing Crucible Steel Company into
an industry leader, becomes the first outsider to head Northern
Electric. His tough, no-nonsense style eliminates any complacency
left from the captive-market days. In his first full year in
office, net profit jumps from $4 million to $13 million, then
doubles again the next year. |
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1972 - Northern establishes a footprint in the U.S.
Northern Electric opens its first U.S. plant in Port Huron, Michigan. |
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1972 - Northern pioneers digital processing
Northern Electric squeezes a code/decode (CODEC) single-translation unit
onto a microchip, making it cost-effective to convert analog
to digital and back again. Design begins on the company's flagship
central office switch, the Digital Multiplex System (DMS), and
a large digital private-branch exchange. These developments
pave the way for the development of the SL-1, the world's most
successful, fully digital PBX. |
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1973 - Going public with a new focus
The company goes public with a share offering that reduces Bell Canada ownership
from 100 percent to 90 percent. An inward-looking, domestic,
manufacturing-oriented structure evolves into an outward-looking,
aggressive, market-focused organization.
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1974 - A visionary president for global expansion
Ontario native Walter
Light transforms Northern from a Canadian company into a
North American and global venture, based on his own set of core
values: We do what we say we will do; we make it easier for
the customer to do business with us; and the customer comes
first. |
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1975 - First digital switching system
Northern ships the first digital switching system in commercial service,
with far more capacity than its only timely competition and
years ahead of 10 other competitors. The SL-1 system incorporates
stunning technological advances and ignites Northern's "evergreen"
principle of compatibility among generations of equipment. |
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1976 - Unifying global entities under a new name
Northern Electric changes its name to Northern Telecom, unifying international
subsidiaries under the corporate umbrella. |
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1976 - A bold pronouncement: Digital World
Prompted by marketing strategist Derek
Davies, Northern announces "Digital World," a full line
of digital switching and transmission products, with an ambitious
timeline. While digital fever sweeps the industry, BNR developers
break new ground to deliver on the vision. |
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1979 - The DMS-100 is born
Northern launches DMS-100, a full-featured, local/toll digital switch
that supports up to 100,000 lines. The phenomenal success of
this flagship product propels Northern to global prominence.
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