Stentor Changes and History


In the press release that J.F. Mezei posted on the changes to Canada's
Stentor Consortium, there is a mention of the formation of the
original predecessor to Stentor, way back in 1932 -- as well as some
other information on the name changes or re-organizations of what has
become Stentor:

"1932: SCNM predecessor, Trans-Canada Telephone System (TCTS) forms
and completes the construction of Canada's first cross-country
network" (SCNM = Stentor Canada Network Management)

"1983: TCTS changes its name to Telecom Canada"

"1992: Telecom Canada becomes Stentor Canadian Network Management, as
part of the creation of the Stentor Alliance"

Three years ago, back in May 1996, I had prepared and posted a special
report for the TELECOM Digest and Archives regarding the history and
development of the Canadian telephone network, which I called "Stentor,
Bell Canada, Independents - Some History", found in the TELECOM Archives:

http://telecom-digest.org/archives/history/stentor.bell-canada

In the fourteenth paragraph, I mention that the TCTS was formed or created
in 1931:

"In 1931, Bell Canada and the dominant provincial telcos formed the
'Trans-Canada Telephone System' (TCTS). One of TCTS' major goals was
to form a truly Canadian coast-to-coast telephone toll/transmission
network, which was accomplished during that year. Prior to the
completion of the TCTS network, long-haul telephone calls from one end
of Canada to another had to traverse through AT&T's Long-Lines in the
US. TCTS became known as Telecom-Canada in the late 1970's or early
1980's, and reorganized as Stentor around 1992/93."

After I had finished preparing the report and sending it to the TELECOM
Digest and Archives, I subsequently discovered in further research that
there even was a predecessor to the Trans-Canada Telephone System! It was
bascically the same type of organization, which was preparing for an
eventual coast-to-coast intra-Canada network of toll lines and trunks. In
the early 1920's, there was formed the "TAC", Telephone Association of
Canada, which was the association of the dominant provincial-based telcos.
It appears that the TAC of the 1920's evolved into the TCTS of the 1930's
through early 1980's.

Incidently, the original member telcos of what was the TCTS did _NOT_
include what has become NewTel (Newfoundland) nor IslandTel (Prince
Edward Island); nor QuebecTel (partially held by GTE - serving parts of
eastern Quebec) nor NorthwesTel (in the northern territories and the
northern part of British Columbia) -- the first two later on becoming full
members of TCTS / Telecom Canada / Stentor, the latter two later on
becoming "associate" members of Telecom Canada / Stentor.

Since my original historical report on the telephone industry in Canada,
to date 1996,  there have been many changes and further developments as
was announced yesterday regarding the "reformation" of what has been
Stentor. Many of these developments and changes have been reported by
others in this Digest, particularly by Ian Angus' "Canadian Telecom
Updates" which can also be found at: http://www.angustel.ca


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