Nortel

Nortel Networks Corporation
Company typePublic
formerly TSX: NT.TO
Industry
FoundedDecember 7, 1895 (1895-12-07)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DefunctFebruary 2, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-02-02)
FateBankruptcy
Headquarters
Ottawa, Ontario
,
Canada
ParentAT&T / Bell Canada
(1895–1956)
Bell Canada (1956–1983)[1]
BCE Inc. (1983–2000)

Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel), formerly Northern Telecom Limited, was a Canadian multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in Montreal, Quebec in 1895 as the Northern Electric and Manufacturing Company, or simply Northern Electric. Until an antitrust settlement in 1949, Northern Electric was owned mostly by Bell Canada and the Western Electric Company of the Bell System, producing large volumes of telecommunications equipment based on licensed Western Electric designs.[2]

At its height, Nortel accounted for more than a third of the total valuation of all companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), employing 94,500 people worldwide.[3] In 2009, Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the United States, triggering a 79% decline in its corporate stock price. The bankruptcy case was the largest in Canadian history and left pensioners, shareholders, and former employees with enormous losses. By 2016, Nortel had sold billions of dollars in assets.[4] Courts in the U.S. and Canada approved a negotiated settlement of bankruptcy proceedings in 2017.[5][6]

  1. ^ "Northern Electric- A Brief History". Archived from the original on August 22, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  2. ^ "Intel gets antitrust approval for Nortel asset buy". Reuters. June 24, 2011. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  3. ^ Hasselback, Drew; Tedesco, Theresa (September 27, 2014). "The fate of once-mighty Nortel's last billions lies in the hands of two men". Financial Post. National Post. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  4. ^ Ireton, Julie (October 7, 2016). "Nortel executives continue drawing bonuses years after bankruptcy: Since 2009 bankruptcy, Nortel executives have collected $190M US in retention bonuses". CBC. Archived from the original on October 7, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  5. ^ "Nortel Obtains Court Orders for Creditor Protection" (Press release). Nortel Networks Corporation. January 14, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Nortel Obtains Further Extension of Stay Period Under CCAA" (Press release). Nortel Networks. October 30, 2012. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.