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PAGE TWENTY-FOUR THE DAILY T IMES-GAZETTE SATURDAY, APRIL __ 1951 Bell Telephone Company Has Ower 30,000 Employees Bell System Has 1,750,000 Phones Across Canada One of Canada's leading industries is the telephone busi- ness, and no people on earth are more telephone conscious than Canadians. In The Bell Telephone Company of Canada, the country's largest telephone system, with about 1,750,000 telephones in service throughout Ontario and Quebec, there are more than 80,000 employees who depend on the industry for their immediate livelihood. The remaining 1,300,000 tele- phones which make up Canada's total are operated by some 8,000 separate telephone systems, also employing many thousands of workers. Despite the number of individual &-- telephone systems, some privately owned and others under provincial and municipal government owner- ship, almost every telephone in Canada can be reached quickly and easily from any point. Faced with spanning vast distances quickly and easily from any point. Faced with spanning vast distances and reach- ing many geographically remote- communities, the seven major tele- phone systems of the nation work in co-operation to provide the Trans- Canada Telephone System, enabling conversation to flow. over circuits linking the Atlantic to the Pacific. Within the framework of each of the seven major systems, arrange- ments are made to connect with the smaller systems, so that all may be within reach. Connections With U.S. Connections with the lines of the tem in the United States afford access to the millions of tele- phones in that country, and through these connections or directly the is able to provide sel with telephone systems in 91 over- seas countries. The value which Canadians place telephone service is in the tremendous ephones that has ars. For busi- use, telephones ess and for home n in the hundreds are being installed + gf during the , as have other major systems, has been en- a program of expansion anything conceived in the previous history of the telephone industry. There are 486 Bell central offices handling telephone conversa- tions over 6,500,000 miles of wire. Most of the Bell wire is under- ground, . almost 72 per cent, but aerial wire and cable is carried on some 27,300 miles of pole line. Al- most 75 per cent of Bell telephones are dial operated. Rapid Expansion In the five-year period ending on December 31, 1950, 676,213 addi- tional telephones were placed service. During this period, new con- struction expenditures to extend, enlarge and improve the company's plant, equipment, buildings and system totalled over $300,000,000. To meet the continuing demand, con- struction expenditures for 1051 are expested to continue at a level at least as high as during recent years. At the beginning of 1951 there were 78,000 orders for service still to be filled, and 89,000 orders for higher grades of service -- chiefly requests for individual service in- J. H. BRACE Of Montreal, vice - president in charge of personnel and public relations, The Bell Telephone Com- pany of Canada. stead -of two-party lines. At the present time there are many un- filled applications for service on the company's books, and a large num- ber of orders for higher grades of service. Through the years the company has financed its expansion with money obtained from investors through the sale of capital stock and bonds. Money received monthly for service is not used for the expansion of the business. Record Financing A stock issue by the company in October, 1950, set a record in perma- nent financing. It was the largest offering of its kind ever made to Canadian investors by a Canadian company. Offered to shareholders of record on September 22, on the basis of one share for each five shares held, were 1,292,805 shares of a par value of $25 each. The price was $33 per share. All but a fraction of one per cent was subscribed, providing the company with over $42,290,000 of new capital. The faith that Canadians have in the telephone business is exempli- fied in the' fact that the Bell Telephone has some 78,000 share- holders, of whom 76,000 or 98 per cent, live in Canada. Again, over 90 per cent reside in the two provinces served by the Bell Telephone, rep- resenting one shareholder in every 25 families living in Ontario and Quebec. Average holding per share- holder is 100 shares. One in every three of the company's employees is a shareholder, exemplifying the interest that Bell workers have in their own company. Rates Regulated The Bell Telephone Company operates under a Federal charter and in order to revise its rates must apply to and receive the approval of The Board of Transport Com- in | missioners for Canada. For the first time in 24 years, the company late in 1949 made application for a general revision in its tariffs, as mounting costs had more than off- set the increased revenues from additional telephones and increased long distance usage. The board authorized an interim increase in rates, effective July 22, 1950, and late in 1950 approved the company's application for revised tariffs, ef- fective January 1, 1951. The final judgment of the board followed 50 days of hearings during which evidence and argument were advanced by both the company and the municipalities which participated in proceedings. The judgment en- dorsed the company's policies and practices on many vital matters. The increased revenue provded by the new rates is expected to permit the company to meet higher operat- ing costs and to earn its normal dividend requirements during 1951. This will assist the company in obtaining the capital required to continue the construction of tele- public's demand for service, Large Investment A significant factor in the tele- phone business is the high plant investment required to provide serv- ice. To illustrate the increasing amounts involved, average plant investment in 1950 was $302 for each telephone in service, compared with $236 in 1946 and an estimated $324 by 1951. Total plant investment in the Bell Telephone at the end of 1950 amounted to $522 million, an increase of $244 million since the end of 1946. Although the company's revenues have increased, the costs of operat- ing the business have increased even more. Higher wages and shorter hours of work are the main reasons for this trend, as well as a greatly expanded work force, There are over 30,000 Bell employees today compared with 9,700 in 1939. The higher costs of materials, supplies and services have also made their effect felt upon the operation of the business in decided fashion. Pioneered Innovations Turning from the financial aspect of the picture and the value of tele- phone service as represented to the subscriber in terms of plant invest- ment, value of another sort has been steadily accumulating for the sub- scriber in the 71 years since the company's incorporation. This value is less tangible, but more apparent to the telephone user, since it rep- resents constant technological im- provement, resulting in speedier and more efficient service. The Bell has pioneered countless innovations in telephony in Canada, but inevitably some, representing the newest and best at the moment, are in turn destined to obsolescence as the active minds of telephone scientists explore new fields and produce new and still better marvels. Streamlined Sets Compare the streamlined tele- phone set of today with the set of fifteen years ago. Not only has the design been changed to a more compact form, but within the instrument itself various parts have been modified or changed to func- tion better. But in the overall pic- ture of telephone improvement, this particular example, obvious as it is to the subscriber, is dwarfed in the story behind the wire and cable and exchange equipment used in mod- ern telephony. Through the develop- ment of vacuum tubes, it has be- come possible to send as many as 16 different conversations over a single pair of conductors on open wire lines, while in cable two pairs of wires are often arranged to carry 12 conversations at the same time. This is done by using 'currents of different frequencies travelling over the same wires, and very often a single pair of conductors will be carrying not only several telephone conversations, but as many or more teletype messages. Wire enclosed in cable has been reduced to thread- like thinness, and there are as many as 3,636 pairs of wires in some types of cable. the many advances made in tele- phony, which have permitted the telephone company to operate with the utmost economy and provide constantly improving service and equipment at low cost. Supply Contract When it comes to purchases and manufacturing of equipment, the company finds it economical and expedient to maintain a supply contract with the Northern Electric Company. The Northern acts as purchasing, inspecting, warehousing and repairing agent for the Bell Telephone, and under contract, is obliged to sell its own products to Bell "at prices as low as to its most favored customers." It assures a reliable source of standard, high grade telephone materials, available at all times, and enables the Bell to effect economies, which in turn have been passed on to the tele- phone subscriber. To carry out its 1950 construction program the Bell purchased from Northern Electric 217,000 telephone instruments, 354 switchboard operating positions, dial Main Power Control Board Of System A check of the dials and indicators on the main power control board in the basement of the new dial telephone sxchatige here reveals that all is in readiness for the cutover of the local system to dial operation. A. S. pinn, central office foreman, makes sure that the battery charging equipment is functioning properly as he operates the voltage regulation controls. =Times-Gazette Staff Photo, phone plant still needed to meet the These are merely examples of Left to right, they are Andrew A. Chief Bell Officials in Oshawa | Above are the three chief officials of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Gillespie, Oshawa manager; Miss Helen Robertson, ing staff, and Robert H. }l.undy, Oshawa plant wire chief. doing some checking on records. in charge of the operat- ~--Times-Gazette Staff Photo. Greenberg & Sons (Salvage) 308 BLOOR ST. EAST Our New Dial No. Many modern businesses utilize the Teletypes Use Bell Line Bell Teletype to achieve time-saving efficiency in their operations. Seated at a teletype machine, an operator such as the girl above can type out messages at the rate of 60 words a minute. Other machines on the same circuit, whether in the same building or a thousand miles away, reproduce the tant almost in ly. Dial Switching Equipment The complex dial switching equipment in the dial telephone exchange is checked thoroughly immediately before a cutover and is tested at regular intervals after it is in operation. These switches, which are normally covered with protective canisters to guard them from dust line is ted and dirt, are ther when a the means by which ene number is dialed. Here a telephone expert adjusts one of the switches from which the canister has been removed. equipment capable of serving over 105,000 customers and telephone cables containing more than half a million miles of wire. All types of telephone plant were expanded considerably during the past year. Greater capacity for local telephone service was provided at 148 central office locations. In many cases the need for extension was met by additions to existing switchboards and associated equip- ment; in other instances, where full capacity of equipment or premises had been exhausted, complete new central offices were installed. Seven manual centres, serving 36,500 tele- phones, were replaced by dial offices of greater capacity. Switchboards for long distance connections were added to, or re- placed by larger boards, in 33 towns and cities. Other major installations of long distance equipment included 19 carrier systems, each capable of transmitting 12 separate conversa- tions simultaneously. More than 850 ong distance circuits were completed and placed in service to augment the circuits already in use. Many thousands of new local were also installed. New Construction The construction of 16 new build- circuits | ings and of 11 building extensions was completed during 1950 and work was in progress at the year-end on 25 other buildings. The new struc- tures completed included two in large cities, each capable of housing more than one dial central office, seven in smaller cities for dial equipment," and three large work- centre-garages. During 1950 the continuing search for more effective, reliable and economical means of giving tele- phone service led to the adoption of many improvements, These in- cluded portable, self-contained radio transmitter-receivers, designed to bridge temporary gaps in long dis- tance facilities -- these are located at strategic points in the company's territory and are ready for emer- gency service at all times. Additional diesel-powered standby generators were also installed in many central offices to supply electricity and thus maintain telephone service in the event of power failure. Good Employee Relations Administering varied and widely scattered personnel is a complex problem, but the Bell is acknowl- | edged as a leader in, the field of {employee relations. The practical philosophy involved is that well- RH. Lundy Joined Bell In Year 1912 Robert H. Lundy, Bell Telephone's plant wire chief in Oshawa, has held this position since 1935. As plant wire chief, it has been his responsibility to see that the com- pany's physical "plant" -- equip- ment, cables, poles and so on--is installed properly and maintained in operating condition. Recently he has been especially busy super- vising the installation of equip- ment in preparation for the dial telephone system. Mr. Lundy was born in York County on April 6; 1894, and edu- cated at public and high schools in Newmarket. He entered the em- ploy of the Bell Telephone Com- pany as a clerk in the plant de- partment at Newmarket in 1912. ROBERT H. LUNDY The following year he served as an inspector, and then was trans- ferred to Sudbury where he was engaged in plant work for 18 months before being moved North Bay. A veteran of both World Wars, Mr, Lundy was granted leave of absence in April 1915, to go on ac- tive service with the 76th Batta- lion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, and was wounded while overseas in 1916. He returned to the company in August, 1918, following his dis- charge. In the Second World War, he served with the Royal Canadian 4 Corps of Signals in the Active Force |] from September, 1941, to December, 1943, after a year of service with the Ontario Regiment (Tank) Re- serve. Following the First World War, Mr. Lundy gained further exper- ience in plant work at Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and Sudbury. He was appointed plant wire chief at Peterborough in 1929, and, in May, 1935, took up similar duties in Osh- awa, He resumed this post after returning from leave of absence for his military duties in the Second World War. Mr, Lundy was an active worker in the Red Cross from 1939 to 1941, and is a former president of the Kinsmen Clubs of Canada. His chief hobby is gardening. satisfied employees will be better equipped to deal with the public and to render the best type of service both to the company and the customer. Courtesy and efficiency are key words in the organization, and since the company started oper- ations, these characteristics have dominated its dealings with the publie. The telephone company's product is service, which is turned out by its own employees and delivered by its own employees. The service it provides is of vital importance to the community, and therefore the company's obligation as a public utility, are of the broadest yet most rigid sort. It must fulfil its obliga= tions to the customer. The Bell's annual report at the end of 1950, stated that the com- pany was looking forward "to steady progress in giving our customers the best possible telephone service, at the lowest cost that will enable us to continue to pay fair wages to our employees and a reasonable and regular return to those who invest Here Are Two New Numbers To Remember OSHAWA W00D PRODUCTS CO. COURTICE DIAL 3-4661 | Sa OFFICE 84 SIMCOE S. -- DIAL >-4443 OSHAWA W00D PRODUCTS CO. to | R.B. | WILKINS (© All types of Construction Work, both Industrial and Residential "A Wilkins Job Is a Quality Job" OUR NEW DIAL NO. 3-8023 (Evenings during month of May only Phone 5-4658) NOTE! CHANGE OF ADDRESS AIRPORT ROAD -- R.R. 3, OSHAWA their monéy in the business." SHOES ENTIRE $AMILY Shoes For The Entire Family! Dial... 20-3874 15 Simcoe St. North