Bell Telephone Laboratories

American company

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 23, 2026

Quick Summary

Bell Laboratories, originally incorporated as Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. in 1925, was the primary research and development division of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). Its history traces back to the engineering departments of AT&T and Western Electric Company in 1907.1

Bell Laboratories was tasked with developing telecommunications equipment but also conducted extensive basic and applied research. Key innovations include the first synchronous-sound motion-picture system (1926), the transistor (1947), and the first electronic telephone-switching system (1960s). Researchers at Bell Labs have received multiple Nobel Prizes for their work, including discoveries related to electrons, the transistor, and cosmic microwave background radiation.1

The Bell System, which included Bell Laboratories, was dismantled in 1983 when AT&T's operating companies were divested. Bell Laboratories is now part of the Finnish telecommunications company Nokia.21

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

AT&T Corporation
1974–1984: Antitrust case and Bell System breakup
…able to hold on to Bell Laboratories, Western Electric, and Long Lines (the long-distance relay towers for microwave frequency). But it was not allowed to use the Bell name with anything other than Bell Labs.
Read More
…able to hold on to Bell Laboratories, Western Electric, and Long Lines (the long-distance relay towers for microwave frequency). But it was not allowed to use the Bell name with anything other than Bell Labs.
Read More

Arthur L. Schawlow
…was a research physicist at Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1951 to 1961. In 1958 he and Townes published a paper in which they outlined the working principles of the laser, though the first such working device was built by another American physicist, Theodore Maiman, in 1960. In 1961 Schawlow became…
Read More
…was a research physicist at Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1951 to 1961. In 1958 he and Townes published a paper in which they outlined the working principles of the laser, though the first such working device was built by another American physicist, Theodore Maiman, in 1960. In 1961 Schawlow became…
Read More