ADT Security Risk Advertisement

In the United States in the 19th century, there were many small telegram delivery companies; in 1874, 57 district telegraph delivery companies affiliated and became "American District Telegraph". With the increase in telephone usage in the late 1800s, ADT's messenger business slowly declined in popularity. ADT tried branching out and developing their signaling business while still maintaining their telegraph business as primary income source. ADT incorporated into Western Union in 1901. ADT separated its messenger business from its main signaling business at this time. In 1909, Western Union and ADT came under the control AT&T. ADT began to expand into new areas like fire alarms and burglar alarms between 1910 and 1930, but was kept separate from AT&T's Holmes alarm business. ADT became a publicly owned company in the 1960s.
In 1964, ADT was found to be a monopoly in restraint trade. It was shown to provide almost 80% the central station alarm service in the United States. In some cities, such New York City and Memphis, Tennessee, they were the sole provider. They were also found to have forced out business competitors by lowering prices below cost. They would charge national accounts very low prices in cities with competitors and much higher prices where no competition was available. ADT was forced to adopt a national price list, which could not be varied, to help establish Central Station Competitors in cities without competition, and to pay fines and triple damages to the federal government, customers, and local competitors.
In 1977, the UK's Lord Ashcrt had bought under performing outdoor equipment maker Hawley Goodall, and transformed it through acquisition into business services group, registered in Bermuda. In the early part 1987, Hawley bought Crime Control Inc. based in Indianapolis for $50 million, placing the company fourth place spot in the U.S. security market. Later in the year it bought ADT. This purchase transformed Hawley into the leading security services business in the United States, and resulted in the majority its revenues coming from the North American market. As a result the acquisition, Hawley changed its name to ADT Inc. and decided to refocus its business around security services. At the end 1987, the company sold its North American-based facility services business to Denmark's ISS A/S.