Mitel

A global provider of enterprise and mobile communications powering more than 2 billion business connections and 2 billion mobile subscribers every day, Mitel (Nasdaq:MITL) (TSX:MNW) helps businesses and mobile carriers connect, collaborate and provide services to their customers.

Mitel is headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada, with offices, partners and resellers worldwide.

Product lineup

Corporate history

Founding

Michael Cowpland and Terry Matthews founded Mitel in 1972 (officially on June 8, 1972). Conventionally, its name is regarded as a combination of the founders’ first names and their first product - MIke and TErry's Lawnmowers. Cowpland is quoted as stating that it stands for MIke and Terry's Electronics, whereas Matthews confirmed the lawnmower acronym during an interview on BBC Radio 4's "The Bottom Line" in May 2011. The pair formed the corporation with the blessing of their employer based on the original premise it stood for MIke and TErry Lawn mowers and in order to protect their intellectual property rights of tone to pulse converter design from their employer who otherwise would have legal ownership rights. Their first shipment of three lawn mowers was lost in shipping, so they quickly adjusted to produce a telephony tone receiver product (a tone-to-pulse converter for central office use based on Cowpland's Ph.D. thesis). Cowpland has also stated that the lawnmowers were not suited to Canadian lawns.