"Baby Bells"
After the Modification of Final Judgment, the resulting Baby Bells were originally:
- Ameritech (acquired by SBC Communications in 1999, which is now AT&T Inc.)
- Bell Atlantic (changed its name to Verizon in 2000 after acquiring GTE)
- BellSouth (acquired by AT&T Inc. in 2006)
- NYNEX (acquired by Bell Atlantic in 1997, which is now Verizon)
- Pacific Telesis (acquired by SBC in 1997, which is now AT&T Inc.)
- Southwestern Bell (changed its name to SBC Communications in 1995; acquired "Ma Bell" AT&T Corp. and changed its name to AT&T Inc. in 2005)
- US West (changed name to MediaOne and spun off "new" US West in 1998; US West acquired by Qwest in 2000; CenturyLink acquired Qwest in 2011)
Prior to 1984, AT&T Corp. also held investments in two smaller and otherwise independent companies, Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone (SNET). Following the 1984 breakup, these became fully independent as well. All nine local-exchange holding companies were assigned a share of the rights to the Bell trademark. Additionally, there was one comparably-sized independent (non-Bell) company, GTE.
Read more about this topic: Regional Bell Operating Company
Famous quotes containing the words baby and/or bells:
“Nothing ever prepares a couple for having a baby, especially the first one. And even baby number two or three, the surprises and challenges, the cosmic curve balls, keep on coming. We can’t believe how much children change everything—the time we rise and the time we go to bed; the way we fight and the way we get along. Even when, and if, we make love.”
—Susan Lapinski (20th century)
“For mankind, speech with a capital S is especially meaningful and committing, more than the content communicated. The outcry of the newborn and the sound of the bells are fraught with mystery more than the baby’s woeful face or the venerable tower.”
—Paul Goodman (1911–1972)