Western Electric Company Ltd.
163 Pitt Street Sydney NSW (1885 - 1912)

Standard Telephones and Cables Pty, Ltd.
Factory - Myrtle Street, Chippendale NSW (1926 -1936)
Factory Botany Road, Alexandria, NSW (1936 -
Factory/plant 1-3 Mandible Street, Alexandria, NSW (1945 – 1987)

Branches in all states of Australia

Standard Telephones and Cables Pty Ltd designed and manufactured telecommunications equipment, domestic radio receivers, telecom cables, military equipment and electron tubes. The company later became Alcatel Australia Limited

The Western Electric Company Ltd. of London opened an office in Pitt Street, Sydney in 1885.

The company was incorporated in 1912 as the Western Electric Company (Australia) Ltd. with Mr. RB Hungerford as Managing Director.

In 1925 Bell did a deal with International Telephone and Telegraph  (ITT) and sold all its overseas holdings to Sosthenes Behn's ITT. Following the change of ownership, ITT needed more manufacturing facilities to support the national telephone companies it was administering. The Western Electric companies were renamed Standard Electric in Europe, Standard Telephone and Cables in Britain, and Standard Telephones and Cables (Australasia). ITT also now owned Antwerp's Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company.

All of the newly acquired ITT companies had manufacturing facilities except STC in Australia.

In 1926 the company opened their first factory in Myrtle Street, Chippendale. Production was at first confined to STC telephones and radios.  In subsequent years the company quickly expanded to manufacture radio broadcast transmitters, telephone repeater coils and other types of telephone equipment.

Prior to the factory opening in 1926, the company acted as a selling organisation for the products of its associated manufacturing companies in the UK and other parts of the world. Weconomy radios, amplifiers and Kone loud speakers were imported from Western Electric London and sold in Australia. Large installations of this equipment were installed in the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital [5] and Parliament House in 1927[6].

By 1935 the factory at Chippendale was unable to cope with the company’s rapidly expanding business. Land was acquired in Alexandria and a new factory of 30,000 square feet was established.

By 1939 the company’s employees numbered 500 and the factory had increased to 27,000 square feet.

In 1941 to cater for further expansion a new factory was established at Villawood, 17 miles south of Sydney.

By 1945 the company had expanded its manufacturing to cover Train Telephone equipment, Multi-channel Telephone Carrier equipment, PA systems, Electronic Telephone Repeater Valves, high power Radio Transmitting Valves, high power Rectifiers, UHF Aircraft Beacons and a variety of Telecom cables. They also played an important part in developing electronic communications in New Zealand. [1]

SILLIAC Computer

SILLIAC was the first supercomputer built in an Australian university. It was the size of a double-decker bus, contained 2,800 vacuum tubes, was programmed with paper tape and required 25 kW of power.

It was designed by Professor Harry Messel of Sydney University's Physics Department, based on the ILLIAC and ORDVAC computers developed at the University of Illinois. In July 1954, the Company was contracted to build it, with testing and installation performed by technicians within the School of Physics. It marked the start of computer science and IT in Australia. It was finally turned off 12 years later in 1968. [2]

Parts of it are preserved in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.

In 1987 the company was purchased by Alcatel NV. [3]

It should be noted that Western Electric Company Ltd. (USA) set up Western Electric Company (Australia) Ltd in November 1928 to manufacture & install sound equipment in theatres around Australia and has no affiliation with STC. [4]

1] 50 years, 1895-1945: being the story of the establishment & development in Australia and New  Zealand of Standard Telephones and Cables Pty. Limited. (nla.obj-191916865)

[2] Alumni Sydney University “Love at First Byte” pdf
[3] The Canberra Times (ACT) Oct 23, 1987, page 14.
[4] The sun (NSW) Nov 25, 1928, page 2.
[5] Sydney Mail (NSW)  22 Jun 1927  Page 48.
[6] The Land (NSW)  10 Jun 1927  Page 7.