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71-516: IBTC evolved into a notable European telephone service provider and manufacturer, with major operations in several countries. As a result of anti-trust actions in the U.S., AT&T, its parent, sold its entire European division and IBTC's subsidiaries to the International Telephone & Telegraph Company in 1925, ending a 46-year presence on the continent. In 1879 Gardiner Hubbard , father-in-law of Alexander Graham Bell and

142-513: A limited liability company . In a filing with the South Dakota Secretary of State dated January 30, 2024, the reason given for the merger is that New York state law does not allow AT&T Corp. to be directly converted into an LLC. Although acquired by SBC in 2005, AT&T Corp. has remained a separate entity within the corporate structure of AT&T Inc. The merger, said to create “greater operational efficiencies”, will end

213-623: A telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many traditional solely telephone companies now function as internet service providers (ISPs), and the distinction between a telephone company and ISP has tended to disappear completely over time, as the current trend for supplier convergence in the industry develops. Additionally, with advances in technology development, other traditional separate industries such as cable television, Voice-over IP (VoIP) , and satellite providers offer similar competing features as

284-527: A 171 conference room inn. The AT&T Learning Center won the commercial property known as Somerset County's Land Development Award that year. In 1992, Basking Ridge location would become a corporate headquarters just before AT&T leased the New York City, 550 Madison Avenue building to Sony in 1993. The corporate statue, known as " Golden Boy " was moved in 1992, from the former New York City headquarters to this current New Jersey headquarters. In 1992,

355-407: A Class 1 licensed private helipad , a two-story cafeteria, a wood-burning fireplace, an indoor waterfall at the entrance lobby, and a seven-acre created lake for flood control. The entire property was 130 acre and cost $ 219 million to construct. Later, across the street from the complex, AT&T purchased additional land and established its Learning Center in 1985, at 300 North Maple Avenue, to become

426-443: A co-founder of Western Electric. Barton had earlier sent him to Australia and New Zealand to help with operations there, and Welles was then transferred to Brussels. Welles would lead the overseas BTMC company for the next 30 years assisted by Louis De Groof, a Belgian authorised agent. IBTC started up subsidiary manufacturing plants in major cities throughout all of Europe, since nationalistic policies favoured local manufacturers. In

497-411: A corporate art consultant approached, artist sculptor, Elyn Zimmerman , to commission a 30-foot diameter project with fountain and seating area for the conference center courtyard gardens. In 1994, the project was completed and had one 34 ton granite boulder centered on top of the other boulders, which flowed water from the fountain designed by fountain engineer, Dr. Gerald Palevsky. AT&T occupancy at

568-555: A headquarters on 195 Broadway (close to what is now the World Trade Center site ). The property originally belonged to Western Union , of which AT&T held a controlling interest until 1913 when AT&T divested its interest as part of the Kingsbury Commitment . Construction of the current building began in 1912. Designed by William Welles Bosworth , who played a significant role in designing Kykuit ,

639-776: A holding company for various telephone service and production divisions. Its major manufacturing unit was the Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company (BTMC), which was founded in Antwerp, Belgium , on 26 April 1882. BTMC was created as a joint venture by the International Bell Telephone Company of New York City and the Western Electric Company of Chicago . BTMC then established Compagnie belge du téléphone Bell (Bell Telephone Company of Belgium) in

710-433: A network of undersea surveillance cables for foreign submarine detection. AT&T was probably, according to internal employees, involved in this Sound Surveillance System ( SOSUS ). After completion, AT&T began commercial operations in cable laying for communications in 1955. The implementation of cables assured local and long-distance telephone or data services would provide revenue for the company. AT&T Long Lines

781-474: A new building at 550 Madison Avenue . This new AT&T Building was designed by Philip Johnson and quickly became an icon of the new Postmodern architectural style. The building was completed in 1984, the very year of the divestiture of the Bell System. The building proved to be too large for the post-divestiture corporation and in 1993, AT&T leased the building to Sony , who then subsequently owned

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852-631: A sale-leaseback agreement valued at $ 650.3 million on the complex with the address previously known as One Verizon Way. In 2017, the 35 acre hotel/conference center was known as the Dolce Basking Ridge Hotel and sold for $ 30 million. On February 15, 2024, AT&T Inc. filed notice with the Kentucky Public Service Commission that it intends to make an internal structural change and merge AT&T Corp. into AT&T Enterprises, Inc., which will become

923-619: Is called a "hypostyle hall", with full-bodied Doric columns modeled on the Parthenon, marking out a grid. Bosworth was seeking to coordinate the classical tradition with the requirements of a modern building. Columns were not merely the decorative elements they had become in the hands of other architects but created all the illusion of being real supports. Bosworth also designed the campus of MIT as well as Theodore N. Vail 's mansion in Morristown, New Jersey . In 1978, AT&T commissioned

994-718: The American Bell Telephone Company , returning control of BTMC back to the Bell organization. The Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company (BTMC) was founded on 26 April 1882 as the principal manufacturing business to assist International Bell with its growth throughout Europe, where many countries had nationalistic trade policies favouring domestic suppliers. BTMC was owned 45% by the American Bell Telephone Company, and 55% by Bell's major U.S. supplier, Western Electric , of which Bell

1065-487: The Bell System 's long history, AT&T was at times the world's largest telephone company, the world's largest cable television operator, and a regulated monopoly. At its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, it employed one million people and its revenue ranged between US$ 3 billion in 1950 ($ 41.3 billion in present-day terms ) and $ 12 billion in 1966 ($ 117 billion in present-day terms ). In 2005, AT&T

1136-479: The Bell Telephone Company of Canada and Northern Electric . The European division and its subsidiaries were sold to the International Telephone & Telegraph Company , at the start of that company's meteoric rise in the international telecommunications industry. Telephone company A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely

1207-489: The Bell subsidiaries were eventually legislated out of Sweden and Norway in favour of national firms. Stockholms Bell Telefonaktiebolag ceased its telephone operations completely in 1908, having acquired 15,285 subscribers by that time, in a regulatory environment which had previously permitted unrestricted telephone business competition. The Bell Company introduced the telephone to Russia in 1883 in St. Petersburg and Moscow . By

1278-552: The IBTC's Russian investments and plants were subsequently lost during the 1917 Russian Revolution . At the very close of 1899, the American Bell Telephone Company was acquired, for business purposes, by its own subsidiary, the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), which then became the head of the monolithic and monopolistic Bell System . Significant criticism of AT&T (a monopoly ) had emerged in

1349-530: The Rockefeller mansion north of Tarrytown, New York , it was a modern steel structure clad top to bottom in a Greek-styled exterior, the three-story-high Ionic columns of Vermont granite forming eight registers over a Doric base. The lobby of the AT&;T Building was one of the most unusual ones of the era. Instead of a large double-high space, similar to the nearby Woolworth Building , Bosworth designed what

1420-798: The Skandinaviska Kreditaktiebolag Building on Västerlånggatan Street in Stockholm, originally utilizing equipment designed by Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson , and imported from Bell's supplier in Boston. The first Swedish phones, which had signal coils, ringers and Blake microphones , were available as desk or wall models, connecting to Gilliland type switchboards. When Bell's Swedish phone exchange formally opened in Stockholm on 1 September 1880, it had 121 subscribers, increasing to 218 later in

1491-747: The United States shortly before the First World War. Welles and was succeeded by Alexis Mois. The Great War inflicted severe damage to BTMC's operations and production facilities, much of which was destroyed or seized by the invading German army. The company's U.S. managers immediately departed for the United Kingdom or returned home, while many plant employees had been seconded to the Belgian army, or moved to other unoccupied countries. Western Electric's head office contact and control of

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1562-401: The United States that domestic telephone system rates were higher than they needed to be, and that AT&T was using those revenues to subsidize its European operations. Due to that reason and others, and also due to the U.S. Government's regulatory intervention, AT&T president Walter Gifford divested almost all international interests held by the Bell System in 1925, with the exceptions of

1633-423: The United States to use the long distance trunks of Bell Telephone Company . AT%26T Corporation AT&T Corporation , an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company , was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. During

1704-401: The advent of mobile telephony , telecommunications companies now include wireless carriers , or mobile network operators and even satellite providers ( Iridium ). Over time software companies have also evolved to perform telephone services such as: Net2Phone , WhatsApp , and others. In 1913, the Kingsbury Commitment allowed more than 20,000 independent telecommunications companies in

1775-588: The building until it was sold in 2013. In 1969, AT&T began plans to construct an administration corporate complex in the suburbs. In early 1970, AT&T began purchases of land in the suburbs of New Jersey for this office complex and began construction in 1974. The award-winning architect, Vincent Kling , designed a Fordism style, luxurious "Pagoda" campus layout and the construction firms: New York–based Walter Kidde and Newark, New Jersey –based Frank Briscoe, managed this joint venture construction project with Vollers Construction of Branchburg, New Jersey , as

1846-415: The city proper (more expensive). Bell's fee structure was not notably expensive, as rates were higher in most countries at the time and only lower in a few others. After 1883 the Bell subsidiary was forced to reduce its fees due to competition from another newly formed phone company, although it was also able to increase its subscriber base. It later had to restrict its operations to the Östermalm section of

1917-445: The city, where it started a new network for private subscribers with lower fees using a different rate plan with a lower number permitted calls per month (its initial rate structure provided unlimited calling). In 1898 the Bell subsidiary contracted with its competitor, SAT, allowing it to operate their facilities, thereby increasing its subscriber base to about 7,000 homes and businesses. Due to government intervention and other reasons,

1988-680: The company quickly established exchanges in Milan , Turin , and Genoa , and exchanges in a dozen of the other largest cities were started in 1881 by other interests under the auspices of a group of Parisian financiers. By the end of 1886, the Italian division had a total of 8,073 subscribers in twelve cities, plus approximately 12,500 kilometers of telephone lines. The largest exchanges were in Rome (2,022 subscribers), Milan (1,089), Genoa (950) and Naples (873). The International Bell Telephone Company

2059-524: The company was lost for the duration of the war and almost all engineering development and manufacturing there stopped for the remainder of the war. In its early existence the Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company of Belgium took on the role of a child of two often squabbling parents, Western Electric and the American Bell Telephone Company (later to become AT&T). Sired by Bell Telephone's Hubbard and Vail it would become

2130-408: The company's breakup in 1984. Throughout most of the 20th century, AT&T held a semi-monopoly on phone service in the United States and Canada through a network of companies called the Bell System . At this time, the company was nicknamed Ma Bell . AT&T had a domestic and global presence in laying the infrastructure of undersea routes for telecommunications. In 1950, the U.S. Navy commissioned

2201-578: The corporate logo designed by Saul Bass in 1983 and originally used by AT&T Information Systems , was created because part of the United States v. AT&T settlement required AT&T to relinquish all claims to the use of Bell System trademarks. It has been nicknamed the " Death Star " in reference to the Death Star space station in Star Wars which the logo resembles. In 1999 it

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2272-532: The custody of Western Electric through share purchase, which then nurtured and raised it only to see its Belgian concession reclaimed by a nationalistic government. However even through a succession of owners the BTMC has retained its original name, even to the present day. It is currently a unit of Nokia Corporation by the name of Nokia Bell NV. The first telephone exchanges in Belgium were opened in 1878. A company

2343-491: The demand for wired services. It established station WEAF in New York as what was termed a toll station . AT&T could provide no programming, but anyone who wished to broadcast a message could pay a "toll" to AT&T and then air the message publicly. The original studio was the size of a telephone booth. The idea, however, did not take hold, because people would pay to broadcast messages only if they were sure that someone

2414-466: The end of 1886, IBTC's Russian division had a total of 3,440 subscribers in six cities, with 9,550 kilometers of telephone lines. Its largest exchanges were in St. Petersburg (1,080 subscribers), followed by Moscow (690) and Warsaw (533). Significant trade developed between Belgium and Russia during the Tsarist era, with up to 20,000 Belgians from hundreds of companies working there. However all of

2485-641: The existence of the nearly 140-year-old entity. The internal merger took effect on May 1, 2024. AT&T, prior to its merger with SBC Communications , had three core companies: AT&T Alascom sold service in Alaska. AT&T Communications was renamed AT&T Communications – East, Inc. and sold long-distance telephone service and operated as a CLEC outside of the borders of the Bell Operating Companies that AT&T owned. It has now been absorbed into AT&T Corp. and all but 4 of

2556-549: The federal government entered into an agreement known as the Kingsbury Commitment . In the Kingsbury Commitment, AT&T and the government reached an agreement that allowed AT&T to continue operating as a telephone monopoly, subject to certain conditions, including divesting its interest in Western Union. While AT&T periodically faced scrutiny from regulators, this state of affairs continued until

2627-464: The first president of the Bell Telephone Company , founded the International Bell Telephone Company for promoting sales of its telephone equipment throughout Europe. During his tour of the continent the Belgian government offered him the greatest financial incentives to establish a European subsidiary's headquarters in their country. The International Bell Telephone Company (IBTC) shortly evolved into

2698-446: The following Monday, November 21 as " the new AT&T " and began trading under the "T" symbol on December 1. Present-day AT&T Inc. claims AT&T Corp.'s history as its own, but retains SBC's pre-2005 stock price history and corporate structure. As well, all SEC filings before 2005 are under SBC, not AT&T. From 1885 to 1910, AT&T was headquartered at 125 Milk Street in Boston. With its expansion it moved to New York City, to

2769-512: The former complex, excluding the hotel/conference room building, from Pfizer for Verizon Wireless Headquarters and consolidation of employees from Manhattan as well as other nearby New Jersey building locations. In 2007, Pfizer placed the North Maple Inn for sale. At the time, it was a four-diamond, certified hotel and conference center under IACC ("International Association of Conference Centers") designation. In 2015, Verizon performed

2840-480: The former parent company's main business was now AT&T Communications Inc. , which focused on long-distance services, and with other non-RBOC activities. AT&T acquired NCR Corporation in 1991. AT&T announced in 1995 that it would split into three companies: a manufacturing/R&D company, a computer company, and a services company. NCR , Bell Labs and AT&T Technologies were to be spun off by 1997. In preparation for its spin-off, AT&T Technologies

2911-627: The government, which shortly after bought out the Zurich exchange. Fourteen exchanges were in operation at the end of 1883, and twice as many a year later. The Nederlandsche Bell Telefoon Maatschappij ( Dutch Bell Telephone Company ) was formed in the Netherlands in 1881. By the end of 1886, the Netherlands division had a total of 3,700 kilometers of telephone line, plus 2,623 subscribers in eight cities, including Amsterdam , Rotterdam , The Hague , Groningen, Haarlem, and Arnhem . In Italy ,

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2982-523: The innovations of products or technologies in cabling in transmission by undersea systems. In 1955, the first trans-Atlantic telephone undersea cable, TAT-1 , from North America to Europe was installed by AT&T. This installation allowed 48 telephone circuits to be used for long-distance calling. When partnering with other global Telecommunications companies, such as the French Cables de Lyon and German Felten & Guilleaume , Bell Labs provided

3053-518: The laying or repair of cabling under the subsidiary, Transoceanic Cable Ship Company. After the break-up, AT&T operated their ships under a subsidiary called AT&T Submarine Systems Inc, based in Morristown, New Jersey, until they sold six ships to Tyco International Ltd in 1997 for $ 850 million. AT&T continued to maintain their communication building facilities. Here is a list of the cable laying-ship fleet: Between 1951 and 2000, AT&T

3124-601: The location peaked to 6,000 employees in its heyday before AT&T experienced competition and downsizing. In October 2001, the Basking Ridge property was 140 acre with 2.6 million square feet and was placed for sale. Basking Ridge employee occupancy, prior to the sale were approximately 3,200 employees. In April 2002, Pharmacia Corporation purchased the complex for $ 210 million for their corporate headquarters from existing Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey headquarters. A short time afterwards, in 2005, Verizon purchased

3195-500: The manufacturing arm, at which point a young university educated, multilingual American, Francis R. Welles, took over its leadership, with the title of "Administrateur Delegue". Francis Raymond Welles (b. Athens, Pa., August 18, 1854 – d. Vernet-Les-Bains, France, December 14, 1936), graduated the University of Rochester with an Accelerated bachelor's degree (A.B.) in 1875, and a year later started work as secretary to Enos M. Barton,

3266-410: The original 22 subsidiaries that formed AT&T Communications continue to exist. AT&T Laboratories has been integrated into AT&T Labs , formerly named SBC Laboratories . AT&T was also known as "Ma Bell" and affectionately called "Mother" by phone phreaks . During some strikes by its employees, picketers would wear T-shirts reading, "Ma Bell is a real mother." Before the break-up, there

3337-412: The patent rights of Alexander Graham Bell after he invented the telephone system. Originally a verbal agreement, it was formalized in writing in 1875 as Bell Telephone Company . In 1880 the management of American Bell created what would become AT&T Long Lines . The project was the first of its kind to create a nationwide long-distance network with a commercially viable cost-structure. The project

3408-428: The same year as an operating subsidiary, one of several companies that provided telephone services in the country, the others having evolved principally from telegraph carriers. BTMC came under majority ownership by the telephone manufacturer Western Electric , and also established multiple other divisions as national companies across Continental Europe and Russia . Western Electric was itself later majority-owned by

3479-659: The specification and inspection of non Bell System cable for networks such as the TAT-2 . By the continuous undersea network installations, AT&T was a globally technology leader with the 1970 installed TAT-5 and the 1975 installed TAT-6 , achieving 720 channels and then 4000 channels for transmitting voice or data. Prior to 1963, AT&T had to charter oceanic ships, such as the CS Monarch (1945) for installations. AT&T purchased CS Long Lines in 1961 and operated it with several cable laying ships that would provide, either

3550-535: The subcontractor. The 295 North Maple Avenue and Interstate 287 location of Basking Ridge in Bernards Township , New Jersey was completed in 1975 for the AT&T General Department offices. Employees began moving, in November 1975, to the seven inter-connected building complex using 28 acre of the property. The property had a 15-acre underground parking garage with spaces for 3,900 vehicles, and included

3621-435: The superiority of one phone system and AT&T adopted the slogan "One Policy, One System, Universal Service." This would be the company's philosophy for the next 70 years. Under Vail, AT&T began buying up many of the smaller telephone companies including Western Union telegraph . These actions brought unwanted attention from antitrust regulators. Anxious to avoid action from government antitrust suits, AT&T and

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3692-411: The telephone companies to both residential and businesses leading to further evolution of corporate identity have taken shape. Due to the nature of capital expenditure involved in the past, most telecommunications companies were government owned agencies or privately-owned monopolies operated in most countries under close state-regulations. But today there are many private players in most regions of

3763-536: The world, and even most of the government owned companies have been opened up to competition in-line with World Trade Organization (WTO) policy agenda. Historically these government agencies were often referred to, primarily in Europe, as PTTs ( postal, telegraph and telephone services ). Telecommunications companies are common carriers , and in the United States are also known as local exchange carriers . With

3834-537: The year after its founding BTMC employed 35 people, and its workshops were accommodated within a small plant at No. 4 Boudewijnstraat, Antwerp . Its factory was completely rebuilt after a fire in 1882, and by 1885, the Bell Antwerp facility had completed its conversion from importing telephones and switchboards from the U.S., to local manufacturing, with production more than doubling annually as BTMC began to supply their other divisions throughout Europe. By 1900, BTMC

3905-595: The year, with the majority of its users belonging to government, business and upper-class homes. The Swedish subsidiary soon opened more exchanges in the Södermalm and Norrmalm sections of the capital within its first year, operating between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. daily, but in May 1883 moved to around-the-clock operations, charging subscribers between 160 and 280 Swedish kronor (SEKs) per year depending on their locations within Stockholm (less expensive) or outside of

3976-405: Was acquired by " Baby Bell " and former subsidiary SBC Communications for more than $ 16 billion ($ 25 billion in present-day terms ). SBC then changed its name to AT&T Inc. , with AT&T Corporation continuing to exist as a long distance subsidiary until its dissolution on May 1, 2024. AT&T started with Bell Patent Association , a legal entity established in 1874 to protect

4047-453: Was also a majority stakeholder. Western Electric, a U.S. company formed during the era of the telegraph, became American Bell's sole telephone supplier the same year. In a share sale to Western Electric, American Bell later disposed of its ownership of BTMC in 1890 to concentrate on telephone system operations, but since American Bell had been Western Electric's majority shareholder since 1881 it maintained an indirect ownership of IBTC. The IBTC

4118-472: Was also its new parent's ( AT&T ) main supplier of telephone systems to Asia, the Middle East and South America, and the facility had increased to a staff of 700 operating from a greatly expanded plant. The Antwerp facility was largely responsible for introducing the telephone to much of Europe, with its first manual and rotary dial telephone exchanges . In 1884 the very first European intercity line

4189-410: Was also responsible for the introduction of the telephone into Norway , and Sweden . In 1881, exchanges were established in Stockholm , Gothenburg , and Malmö . IBTC established Sweden's first telephone company, Stockholms Bell Telefonaktiebolag , formed with the assistance of three former Swedish PTT superintendents named Lybeck, Bratt and Recin. The new company established their first exchange in

4260-464: Was because Massachusetts corporate laws were very restrictive, and limited capitalization to ten million dollars, forestalling American Bell's further growth. With this assets transfer at the very end of the 19th century, AT&T became the parent of both American Bell and the Bell System . AT&T was involved mainly in the telephone business and, although it was a partner with RCA , was reluctant to see radio grow because such growth might diminish

4331-442: Was created between Antwerp and Brussels, and in 1887 the first international line in Europe was opened between Brussels and Paris. By the end of the nineteenth century European governments moved to nationalize their phone companies, and the telephone service concessions of la Compagnie Belge du Téléphone Bell were allowed to expire or were purchased by the Belgian government. Francis Welles retired from BTMC in 1913 and returned to

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4402-602: Was created for "...the production, sale, purchase and leasing of equipment for telephony and telegraphy and everything directly or indirectly related to electricity" Later, as demand for services bloomed, the Bell Telephone Company had insufficient operating funds to quickly increase the telephone exchange network, resulting in Western Electric buying out all 45% of the shares held by Bell in 1890. Ezra Gilliland of Western Electric helped establish

4473-542: Was formally incorporated in New York as a separate company named American Telephone and Telegraph Company on March 3, 1885. Originating in New York City, its long-distance telephone network reached Chicago, Illinois , in 1892, with its multitudes of local exchanges continuing to stretch further and further yearly, eventually creating a continent-wide telephone system. On December 30, 1899, the assets of American Bell were transferred into its subsidiary American Telephone and Telegraph Company (formerly AT&T Long Lines ); this

4544-645: Was formed in Brussels in 1879, and others followed. Competition was recognised as unsatisfactory, and the various companies were encouraged to amalgamate. The Compagnie Belge du Téléphone Bell (the Bell Telephone Company of Belgium ) was formed in 1882, as the Belgian subsidiary of the International Bell Telephone Company of New York. By the end of 1886, the Belgian division had a total 6,900 kilometers of telephone lines, and 3,532 subscribers in seven cities, including Brussels , Antwerp , Charleroi , Ghent , Verviers , and Liège . The Rotary machine switching system

4615-516: Was greater consumer recognition of the "Bell System" name, in comparison to the name AT&T. This prompted the company to launch an advertising campaign after the break-up to increase its name recognition. Spinoffs like the Regional Bell Operating Companies or RBOC s were often called "Baby Bells". Ironically, "Ma Bell" was acquired by one of its "Baby Bells", SBC Communications , in 2005. The AT&T Globe Symbol,

4686-457: Was listed 73 times in cable laying operations for specific routes deployed. The Cable Ship Long Lines had 23 cable runs from 1963 to 1992, with the first deep-sea trial of optical fiber cable in 1982 leading to the consortium of countries and locations for the TAT-8 fiber cable implementation of 1988. The United States Justice Department opened the case United States v. AT&T in 1974. This

4757-541: Was listening. As a result, WEAF began broadcasting entertainment material, drawing amateur talent found among its employees. Opposition to AT&T's expansion into radio and an agreement with the National Broadcasting Company to lease long-distance lines for their broadcasts resulted in the sale of the station and its developing network of affiliates to NBC. On April 30, 1907, Theodore Newton Vail became President of AT&T. Vail believed in

4828-870: Was manufactured in Antwerp from about 1913, and was used by several countries around the world including France, the Netherlands, Norway and New Zealand (but not as hoped by the British Post Office). However manufacture was disrupted by the German invasion in Belgium in 1914. The first exchange in Switzerland was opened in Zurich , operated under a license granted by the IBTC to a group of business men on July 24, 1880. During 1881 exchanges were subsequently opened in Geneva , Lausanne , and Winterthur by

4899-522: Was one of the divisions responsible for the cable-laying and maintaining of Long Lines' undersea cables. Western Electric was the manufacturing company responsible for production and supply of undersea coaxial equipment and later, fiber cables. Equipment such as repeaters was manufactured in Clark, New Jersey and coaxial cable was manufactured in Baltimore, Maryland . Also, Bell Labs was responsible for

4970-400: Was prompted by suspicion that AT&T was using monopoly profits from its Western Electric subsidiary to subsidize the cost of its network, a violation of antitrust law. A settlement to this case was finalized in 1982, leading to the division of the company on January 1, 1984, into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies , commonly known as Baby Bells. These companies were: Post-breakup,

5041-546: Was renamed Lucent Technologies . Lucent was completely spun off from AT&T in 1996. On January 31, 2005, the " Baby Bell " company SBC Communications announced its plans to acquire " Ma Bell " AT&T Corp. for $ 16 billion. SBC announced in October 2005 that it would shed the "SBC" brand and take the more recognizable AT&T brand, along with the old AT&T's "T" NYSE ticker symbol. Merger approval concluded on November 18, 2005; SBC Communications began rebranding

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