Bell Labs

Nokia Bell Labs
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTelecommunication, information technology, material science
FoundedJanuary 1925 (1925-01) (as Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc.)
HeadquartersMurray Hill, New Jersey, U.S.
ParentAT&T Corporation (1925–1996)
Western Electric (1925–1983)
Lucent (1996–2006)
Alcatel-Lucent (2006–2016)
Nokia (2016–present)
SubsidiariesNokia Shanghai Bell
Websitebell-labs.com

Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),[1] then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)[2] and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),[3] is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by Finnish company Nokia. It is headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and operates a global network of laboratories.

Researchers working at Bell Laboratories are credited with the development of radio astronomy, the transistor, the laser, the photovoltaic cell, the charge-coupled device (CCD), information theory, the Unix operating system, and the programming languages B, C, C++, S, SNOBOL, AWK, AMPL, and others. Ten Nobel Prizes have been awarded for work completed at Bell Laboratories.[4]

Bell Labs had its origin in the complex corporate organization of the Bell System telephone conglomerate. The laboratory began in the late 19th century as the Western Electric Engineering Department, located at 463 West Street in New York City. After years of conducting research and development under Western Electric, a Bell subsidiary, the Engineering Department was reformed into Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1925 and placed under the shared ownership of Western Electric and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). In the 1960s, laboratory and company headquarters were moved to New Jersey. Nokia acquired Bell Labs in 2016 as part of its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent.

  1. ^ "Bell Telephone Laboratories". American Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  2. ^ "AT & T Bell Laboratories". American Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  3. ^ "Bell Labs Innovations". American Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  4. ^ "2018 Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Arthur Ashkin delivers his Nobel Lecture at Nokia Bell Labs". Nokia. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2020.