Bell-Northern Research

Bell-Northern Research (BNR) was a telecommunications research and development company established In 1971 when Bell Canada and Northern Electric combined their R&D organizations. It was jointly owned by Bell Canada and Northern Telecom. BNR was absorbed into Nortel Networks when that company changed its name from Northern Telecom in the mid-1990s.

BNR was based at the Carling Campus in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with campuses at locations around the world, including Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Richardson, Texas; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Harlow and Maidenhead, United Kingdom. Bell-Northern Research pioneered the development of digital technology, and created the first practical digital PBX, (SL1), and central office (DMS). Under the direction of then Nortel Chief Executive Officer, John Roth, BNR lost its separate identity in the 1990s, and was folded into the Nortel R&D organization.