The invisible empire : a history of the telecommunications industry in Canada, 1846-1956 / Jean-Guy Rens ; translated by Kathe Roth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rens, Jean-Guy, 1946-

Contributor:

Roth, Käthe.

Standardized Title:

Empire invisible. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Telecommunication--Canada--History.

Telecommunication.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (408 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

History of the telecommunications industry in Canada

Place of Publication:

Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

It is impossible to understand Canada without looking at the history and development of its telecommunications industry. In the nineteenth century Canada was the only country in the world constructed on the basis of technology - first the railway and, in its shadow, telegraphy. In the 1930s this technological nationalism came of age and telecommunications became Canada's "national" technology. The Invisible Empire provides the first overview of Canadian telecommunications, from the laying of the first telegraph line between Toronto and Hamilton in 1846 to the separation between Nortel - then known as Northern Electric - and the American Bell System in 1956. Rens shows us that Louis Riel was beaten as much by telegraphy as by the Canadian army, and how Bell Canada - then known as Bell Telephone - escaped nationalization by Sir Wilfrid Laurier's government. He follows the construction of the first trans-Canadian telephone line in the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s and explains why, in the context of the Cold War, Canada built an electronic Great Wall of China in the far North. Rens examines the context that allowed the telecommunications industry to take hold so successfully in Canada and explores how the industry grew so quickly and managed to escape American domination. He situates Canadian accomplishments in telecommunications by comparing them with those of other countries.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

The Pioneering Era: Inventions and Impediments, 1846–1915

Telegraphy

The Birth of Telegraphy

The Telegraph Industry Gets Organized

The Telephone

Invention of the Telephone

The Telephone Comes to Canada

Bell Comes Out Fighting

Balkanization of the Telephone Industry

The Birth of Northern Electric and Technological Advances

Unbridled Capitalism and Language Clashes

The Telephone Industry in Canada and the International Scene

Radio

Radio: A Spectacular Success

Creating Universal Service, 1915–56

Creation of a National Industry

Bell’s Long March to Independence

The Other Telephone Companies

Social Benefits and Labour Peace in the Telephone Industry

The Canadian Regulatory Model

Electromechanical Technology Hits Its Peak

The International Scene

Conclusion: How Telephony Changed the World

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Translation of: L'empire invisible.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [365]-377) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-85863-7

9786612858635

0-7735-6844-1

OCLC:

144078383