International Bell Telephone Company
1880-1895
The International Bell Telephone Company was formed in 1880 by its parent, the National Bell Telephone Company. It continued its operations until around 1895, when it was acquired by the Belgian government.
In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for a device which is now known as the telephone. In 1877 The Bell Telephone Company was created and in 1878 Bell organized the first telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut. A related company, New England Telephone and Telegraph (formed in Connecticut by investors from Massachusetts and Rhode Island), was created the same year, 1878. The two companies merged 1879, becoming the National Bell Telephone Company. That same year, the Bell company bought Thomas Edison's patents for the carbon microphone from Western Union.
In 1880, the National Bell Telephone Company merged again and formed two companies: the American Bell Telephone Company (based in Boston) and the International Bell Telephone Company (based in Brussels, Belgium). International Bell began to compete with American and European companies in the telephone business in Europe. American Bell Telephone Company later evolved into American Telegraph & Telephone Company (AT&T).
The International Bell Telephone Company eventually became a holding company, and in 1882 engaged in telephone equipment manufacturing as the Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company (BTM) based in Antwerp, Belgium.