is patenting of the device he invented. His patent application was filed at 2 pm on 14 February 1876, a mere 2 h earlier than that of a competitor, thereby giving Bell monopoly rights on the technology in the United States. However, the success of the Bell Telephone Company (BTC) owes much to a well-managed operation led by Theodor Vail as the managing director. Vail was an experienced manager and the general superintendent of the US Mail service prior to joining BTC. Vail led BTC during 1885-1889 and again between 1907 and 1919, and was instrumental in popularising the telephony service as a necessary infrastructure, and led BTC growth in the face of competition and protracted litigation by a large number of claimants. He also managed BTC relations with government to keep the threat of anti-trust litigation at bay [1]. 1 Johann Philipp Reis telephone: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJohann_Philipp_Reis_telephone.jpg. Alexander Graham Bell: Moffett Studio (Library and Archives Canada/C-017335) https://commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/File%3AAlexander_Graham_Bell.jpg. Voice Communications Soon after establishing BTC, Bell travelled to Europe on his honeymoon. He took his telephone, demonstrated it to government and business officers and applied for patents wher- ever he could. Two countries where he did not manage to file for patents were Germany and Sweden. Two companies based in these countries, Siemens and Ericsson, rose to become major manufacturers of telephony equipment, and have remained major players in the industry. It is interesting to ponder whether these companies would have become SO successful had Bell managed to patent his telephone in Germany and Sweden. Although telegraphy had enabled fast message transfer, it was not intended to facilitate a real-time conversation. At its core, telegraphy was a one-way messaging system and not too dissimilar from the courier systems that had preceded it over millennia. In contrast, telephony technology was the first time a real-time conversation could be hel