Standard Telephones and Cables
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|
| Public | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Nortel |
| Founded | 1917 |
| Defunct | 1991 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
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Key people
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Sir Kenneth Corfield (Chairman) |
Standard Telephones and Cables Ltd (later STC plc) was a British telephone, telegraph, radio, telecommunications and related equipment R&D manufacturer. During its history, STC invented and developed several groundbreaking new technologies including pulse code modulation (PCM) and optical fibres.
The company was founded in London as International Western Electric in 1883. In 1925 it was purchased by International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), which owned it until mid-1982. The company was then listed on the and at one time was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was bought by Nortel in 1991.
The company was established in 1883 as an for the US Western Electric company that also had a factory in Antwerp, Belgium. The London operation sold US-designed telephones and exchanges to fledgling British telephone companies. Because of the costs of importing product, the company purchased a failing cable factory at North Woolwich in London in 1898. In addition to making lead-sheathed cables, the factory started assembling equipment from components imported from Belgium and the US, and introduced manufacturing subsequently. Using advanced American thinking and designs, and after incorporation as a British legal entity in 1910, Western Electric Ltd’s future looked bright.
World War I brought this progress to a sudden halt. The company contributed to the war effort in military communications and the cable and wireless technologies they used. Radio technology was being initiated in the USA. This gave Western Electric a post-war advantage as radio broadcasting was introduced in Britain. With its competitors, it set up the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) as well as producing radio receivers. Electron tube technology was commercially exploited.
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Wikipedia