Aastra Technologies Limited, formerly headquartered in
Concord, Ontario
Concord is a suburban industrial district in the City of Vaughan in York Region, located north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to the 2001 Census, Concord has 8,255 residents.
It is accessed by two provincial highways: Highway 407 a ...
, Canada, made products and systems for accessing communication networks, including the Internet. Its products included residential and business telephone terminals, screen telephones, Enterprise
private branch exchange
A business telephone system is a multiline telephone system typically used in business environments, encompassing systems ranging in technology from the key telephone system (KTS) to the private branch exchange (PBX).
A business telephone syst ...
s (PBX), network access terminals and high-quality digital video encoders, decoders and gateways. Residential telephone equipment was sold in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
as Bell equipment by Sonecor brand, which represented
Southern New England Telecommunications
Southern New England Telecommunications Corporation (SNET) started operations in 1986 as the holding company for The Southern New England Telephone Company. Prior to 1986, The Southern New England Telephone Company had been a minority holding of ...
.
Mitel Networks Corporation
Mitel Networks Corporation is a Canadian telecommunications company. The company previously produced TDM PBX systems and applications, but after a change in ownership in 2001, now focuses almost entirely on Voice-over-IP (VoIP) products. Mitel ...
announced on November 11, 2013, that it would acquire Aastra Technologies Ltd. in a stock and cash deal valued at about $400 million.
History
In 1983, Francis Shen and Hugh Scholaert bought an engineering consulting company, founding Aastra in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
in 1983. The company provided services to the defense industry. In 1993, the company started to specialise in telecommunications. Aastra went public in Canada in 1996.
In 2000, Aastra acquired the assets of Nortel Networks Access Solutions Division including the rights to manufacture phones under the
Nortel
Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel), formerly Northern Telecom Limited, was a Canadian multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in Montreal, Quebec, ...
name. Then, in 2001, Aastra acquired Lucent Technologies' Digital Video business and Ericsson Cable Modem. Aastra acquired Nortel CVX & CSG Division in 2002 and the ASCOM PBX System Division in 2003.
In 2005, 75% of Aastra Technologies' sales were made in Europe, following the purchase that year of the Germany-based the EADS Enterprise Telephony Business and the DeTeWe Telecommunication Systems business. Its other sales shares that year included 17% in the United States, and only 5% in Canada.
In 2008, Aastra acquired the enterprise PBX division of
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informat ...
, best known for
MD110/MX-ONE Telephony Switch.
In January 2014,
Mitel
Mitel Networks Corporation is a Canadian telecommunications company. The company previously produced TDM PBX systems and applications, but after a change in ownership in 2001, now focuses almost entirely on Voice-over-IP (VoIP) products. Mitel ...
completed its acquisition of Aastra, which has been announced in November 2013. Mitel lists the fate of former Aastra products on its website.
Awards
In 2008, Aastra received Internet Telephony's Best of Show Award for 2007 for Best Large Enterprise Solution.
See also
*
List of VOIP companies
is a list of notable companies providing voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.
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! Company !! Base of operations !! Country !! Services provided
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References
External links
Aastra Corporate
{{Telecommunications
Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Canadian companies established in 1983
Telecommunications companies established in 1983
1983 establishments in Ontario
Telecommunications companies of Canada
Electronics companies of Canada
Companies based in Vaughan
VoIP companies of Canada
Teleconferencing
1996 initial public offerings
2014 mergers and acquisitions
Telecommunications companies disestablished in 2014
2014 disestablishments in Ontario