In 1958, AT&T Laboratories released the Bell 101 modem, which was developed by Bell Labs.
Like so many communications technologies, new developments in computer data networking often came from a demand that originated in the military. In this respect, the Bell 101 modem was no different. The Bell 101 was originally used in the United States as part of the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) national air defense system. SAGE was developed in order to produce one unified image of the airspace over a wide area of the country at any given time. This information was used by NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) in order to track real-time inbound airborne threats to the United States. In order to perform this task efficiently, the system needed to be able to coordinate large computer networks at SAGE director centers, scattered across the country, which were in turn connected to strategically positioned air-defense terminals at various airbases, radar sites, and command-and-control centers to the around the United States and Canada.
The Bell 101 made it possible to transmit digital data to and from SAGE stations, using standard telephone lines, at speeds up to 110 bits per second. In addition, Bell 101 modems were the first commercial modems to use ASCII
In 1959, the Bell Laboratories 101 modem was released for commercial use.
References
Online
Publications
Bell Laboratories Record - Vol. XXXVI - No. 4 - April 1958