Grace's Guide

Automatic Telephone and Electric Co

From GracesGuide

of Liverpool

• 1920 Public company formed

• 1936 International Automatic Telephone Co took over the business, assets and liabilities of its wholly owned subsidiary Automatic Electric Co Ltd^[1]. Name changed to Automatic Telephone and Electric Co Ltd^[2].

• 1939 Automatic Telephone and Electric Co took a controlling interest in Hivac as basis for facilities for electronic development in telecommunications^[3].

• 1944 Automatic Telephone and Electric Co gained full control of Hivac^[4].

• WW2 development activities included Distant Reading Compass, Automatic Pilot, aircraft wiring and other electrical equipment, in addition to telecommunication engineering and production^[5].

• 1958 Establishment of a joint company with Ericsson Telephones and English Electric Co to develop and manufacture transistors in greater quantities^[6][7] called Associated Transistors^[8].

• 1959 Automatic Telephone and Electric Co became the prime contractor for a new UK air defence system, under the code name Project Linesman. The best staff from ATE Edge Lane were moved to a new building in Cheapside in Liverpool city centre; to maintain secrecy, this was called Exchange Works. Young employeees were granted exemption from conscription. The task was to design and manufacture the data processing system for Linesman, which meant designing the system, designing the computers, developing software (which included a new high level language) and manufacturing the hardware (something like 1,000 racks of equipment). The first computer was developed with RSRE Malvern using neon tubes and valves. This was later developed into the XL2 (the XL standing for Exchange Laboratories)^[9] built entirely of germanium transistors and using a computer language developed at Exchange Works in the 1950s and 60s. The finished data processing system was installed at West Drayton; this used the XL4, a more powerful machine, and a few XL6 machines developed later. The radar was by Metropolitan-Vickers and Marconi^[10]. The secure status of the factory later attracted other secret contracts (under Plessey) and led to it becoming one of the major designers and manufacturers of cryptographic equipment^[11].

• 1960 A consortium of AEI, Automatic Telephone and Electric Co, Ericsson TelephonesLtd, GEC, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co, Plessey Co and STC formed a holding company Combined Telephone Holdings only days after its members had failed in their bid to acquire Telephone Manufacturing Co. Combined Telephone Holdings purchased for cash more than half of the shares in Phoenix Telephone and Electric Works and offered to purchase the rest^[12].

• 1961 Manufacturers of radio, telephone and telegraph equipment; thermionic devices including midget valves; telephone and mine signalling equipment; plastic mouldings; precision tools and sale of internal telephone and public address systems. 12,500 employees

• 1961 Merged with Plessey and the Ericsson Telephones. As a result, Plessey doubled in size, becoming Britain's largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment (including the majority of the country's crossbar switches / exchanges).

• 1965 Reorganisation of Plessey into 5 groups; Plessey Telecommunications would incorporate Ericsson Telephones and Automatic Telephone and Electric Co^[13].

See Also

Sources of Information

1. ↑ The Times, 27 March 1937
2. ↑ The Times, 6 April 1937
3. ↑ http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1950_1959/fulltext/020c02.pdf
4. ↑ http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1950_1959/fulltext/020c02.pdf
5. ↑ The Times 19 April 1945
6. ↑ The Times, 6 May 1958
7. ↑ The Times, 8 September 1960
8. ↑ The Times, 24 December 1960
9. ↑ Private Communication from Allan Isaacs
10. ↑ Forty Years of Marconi Radar from 1946 to 1986 [1]
11. ↑ Webster's Online: Plessey [2]
12. ↑ The Times, 29 July 1960
13. ↑ The Times, 25 March 1965