Canadian telecom laureates to be inducted in Hall of Fame on October 17

Canada’s Telecommunications Hall of Fame will induct its first nine members on October 17 at the 2005 Telecom Laureate Awards gala dinner in Toronto. The Hall of Fame, announced earlier this year at the Telecom Summit (NL, June 23/05), was created by Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP lawyer Lorne Abugov to recognize leadership and contributions to the Canadian telecommunications industry over the past 160 years. Bell Canada celebrates its 125th anniversary this year and it seems fitting that the Canadian telecommunications industry recognizes its visionaries and innovators that have helped shape the industry. Among the list of inductees are those considered to be fathers of industry, pioneers in innovation, and shapers of telecom policy and regulation. In addition to the nine inductees, a special Hall of Fame recognition award will be presented to Canada’s telephone and switchboard operators. As Abugov states, "We’re conferring a special award on the hundreds of thousands of mostly women who have served as telephone operators and switch board operators since 1880, as they have been integral to the success of Canadian telephony." In the mid-1870s, Alexander Graham Bell conceived of the telephone in Brantford ON. Subsequently, he and his financial backer, Gardiner G. Hubbard, tried to sell the patent for the telephone to the Telegraph Company, a predecessor to Western Union. A committee, formed to study the offer, flatly rejected the telephone as an "idiotic" idea. "Furthermore, why would any person want to use this ungainly and impractical device when he can send a messenger to the telegraph office and have a clear written message sent to any large city in the United States?...We view that Mr. G.G. Hubbards’ request for $100,000 of the sale of this patent is utterly unreasonable, since this device is inherently of no use to us. We do not recommend its purchase," concludes the committee. Bell will be the first laureate inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bell Canada was led in its early years by an American, Charles Fleetford Sise. Hand-picked by the National Bell Company to whip Bell Canada into shape, Sise is credited with growing it from 2,100 telephones with revenue of $29,671 in 1880 to 375,000 telephones with revenue topping $17 million in 1920. He led the company from 1880 to 1915. John Chapman, considered by many to be the father of the Canadian space and satellite industries, was the driving force behind making Canada the third nation in space with the launch of Alouette 1 on Sept. 29, 1962. His contributions to the Canadian satellite program led directly to the creation of Telesat Canada, the former federal Department of Communications, the formation of the David Florida Laboratory and ultimately the Canadian Space Agency. While some of the inductees are already renowned within the industry and beyond, Canadian-born Reginald Fessenden could be considered the least-known of the group. A genius in the wireless arena, he is credited with developing techniques that gave birth to AM radio and to wireless voice communications. His research paid off in December 1900 when he made the world’s first wireless voice transmission. Six years later, Fessenden conducted the first public demonstration of wireless voice transmission. For more information on and tickets to the 2005 Telecom Laureate Awards gala dinner and ceremonies, visit http://www.telemanagementlive.com/.

Canadian telecom laureates to be inducted in Hall of Fame on October 17

News | 10/12/2005 4:00 am EDT

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