ABSTRACT
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. (I got it in, now I am fulfilled!) But as significant as this invention was, it has to take second place to the invention in 1901 by Theodore Vail, who invented the telephone industry. Behind every great inventor is an entrepreneur, and Vail, who is far less well-known than Bell, is more responsible for the spread, structure and evolu tion of the telecommunications industry than Bell himself. Vail had a secret formula and he used it to establish the Bell System’s position.
