GoKawiil1983 Northern Telecom Commodore Phone Limited Edition.
The Curious Case of the Commodore Phones: A Canadian-Only Tech Oddity
In the early days of home computing, the VICModem was Commodore’s answer to getting users online. But in Canada, things got… complicated.
To get around strict telecom regulations and technical limitations, Commodore did something unique: they bundled the modem with a rotary dial telephone made by Northern Telecom—specially branded and only ever sold in Canada. Here’s the strange-but-true story behind one of the rarest pieces of Commodore hardware ever released.
A Problem Unique to Canada
Elsewhere in the world, phones were modular. Handsets connected to their bases via small RJ-9 jacks, allowing devices like the VICModem to intercept the line between the handset and the base. Easy.
But not in Canada.
At the time, Northern Electric (later Northern Telecom) was the exclusive supplier of equipment for Bell Canada. And all Canadian phones were hardwired—meaning the handset was permanently attached to the base. This design made the VICModem essentially useless in its default form.
Commodore’s Clever Fix… or So They Thought
To solve the issue, Commodore Canada had an idea: bundle a special, compatible phone with every VICModem sold in Canada. It seemed simple enough—until they ran into Bell Canada’s famously rigid rules.
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