The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America for over 100 years from its creation in 1877 until its antitrust breakup in 1983. The system of companies was often colloquially called Ma Bell (as in "Mother Bell"), as it held a vertical monopoly over telecommunication products and services in most areas of the United States and Canada. At the time of the breakup of the Bell System in the early 1980s, it had assets of $ 150 billion (equivalent to $ 440 billion in 2023) and employed over one million people.
40-813: The Horse Caves of Granby, Massachusetts are a geological feature in the Holyoke Range . These caves are really ledges. They are found along the New England National Scenic Trail to the east of the summit of Mount Norwottuck . According to legend, some of the men fighting with Daniel Shays in Shays' Rebellion hid out in the Horse Caves after their defeat at the hands of the Massachusetts militia . This Hampshire County, Massachusetts geography–related article
80-510: A Justice Department-mandated consent decree that settled the lawsuit and ordered it to break itself up into seven " Regional Bell Operating Companies " (known as "The Baby Bells"). This ended the existence of the conglomerate in 1984. The Baby Bells became independent companies and several of them are large corporations today. In 1877, the American Bell Telephone Company, named after Alexander Graham Bell , opened
120-542: A post- World War II reconstruction relationship with state-owned Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) before the 1956 boundaries were emplaced. Before 1956, the Bell System's reach was truly gargantuan. Even during the period from 1956 to 1984, the Bell System's dominant reach into all forms of communications was pervasive within the United States and influential in telecommunication standardization throughout
160-660: A private preparatory school, is also located in Granby. Bell System Beginning in the 1910s, American antitrust regulators had been observing and accusing the Bell System of abusing its monopoly power, and had brought legal action multiple times over the decades. In 1974 the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice brought a lawsuit against Bell claiming violations of the Sherman Act . In 1982, anticipating that it could not win, AT&T agreed to
200-404: A result of this vertical monopoly , the Bell System effectively owned most telephone service in the United States by 1940, from local and long-distance service to the telephones. This allowed Bell to prohibit its customers from connecting equipment not made or sold by Bell to the system without paying fees. For example, if a customer desired a style of telephone not leased by the local Bell company,
240-401: A single Bell System trademark. For each regional operating company, its name was placed where "name of associated company" appears in this template version of the trademark. Bell system telephones and related equipment were made by Western Electric , a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Co. Member telephone companies paid a fixed fraction of their revenues as a license fee to Bell Labs . As
280-601: A term that referred generally to all AT&T companies, of which there were five major divisions: In 1913, the federal government challenged the Bell System's growing monopoly over the phone system under AT&T ownership in an anti-trust suit, leading to the Kingsbury Commitment . Under the commitment, AT&T escaped break-up or nationalization in exchange for divesting itself of Western Union and allowing non-competing independent telephone companies to interconnect with its long-distance network. After 1934,
320-462: Is 13 miles (21 km) north of Springfield , the largest city in western Massachusetts. The Holyoke Range is in the northern part of Granby. Major peaks within the town are Long Mountain and Mount Norwottuck . Norwottuck is the highest point in town at 1,106 feet (337 m) above sea level. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail runs along this mountain range as it passes through Granby. The Horse Caves are geological ledges along this trail. As of
360-536: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Granby, Massachusetts Granby is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts , United States. The population was 6,110 at the 2020 census . It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area . The census-designated place of Granby corresponds to the main village of Granby in the center of the town. The town
400-758: Is named in honor of John Manners, Marquess of Granby , a hero of the Seven Years' War . The place name, Granby, refers to a village in Nottinghamshire , taking its name from the personal name Gráni and the Old English suffix bȳ , denoting a farmstead or settlement. Granby was once part of Hadley , as were other towns, as part of Hadley Equivalent Lands . Old Hadley was first settled in 1659 by people from Hartford and Wethersfield, Connecticut . These settlers left Connecticut because of religious differences within their communities. John Pynchon
440-492: The Baby Bells and do not provide telephone service. Beginning in 1991, the Baby Bells began to consolidate operations or rename their Bell Operating Companies according to the parent company name, such as "Bell Atlantic – Delaware, Inc." or "U S WEST Communications, Inc.", to unify their corporate images. The Bell System service marks, including the circled-bell logo, especially as redesigned by Saul Bass in 1969, and
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#1732787325263480-583: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) assumed regulation of AT&T. Proliferation of telephone service allowed the company to become the largest corporation in the world until its dismantling by the United States Department of Justice in 1984, at which time the Bell System ceased to exist. Receiving a U.S. patent for the invention of the telephone on March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell formed
520-679: The United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 28.1 square miles (72.7 km ), of which 27.8 square miles (72.1 km ) are land and 0.27 square miles (0.7 km ), or 0.92%, is water. Granby is bordered by South Hadley to the west, Amherst to the north, Belchertown to the east, and Ludlow and Chicopee to the south. Two highways pass through the town: U.S. Route 202 runs eastward though town from South Hadley to Belchertown on East State Street and West State Street, while Route 116 runs northeastward from South Hadley to Amherst along Amherst Road. Granby
560-533: The census of 2000, there were 6,132 people, 2,247 households, and 1,662 families residing in the town. The population density was 220.1 inhabitants per square mile (85.0/km ). There were 2,295 housing units at an average density of 82.4 per square mile (31.8/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 96.77% White , 0.51% Black or African American , 0.13% Native American , 0.96% Asian , 0.02% Pacific Islander , 0.52% from other races , and 1.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.21% of
600-507: The post-World War II occupation was considered an administrative adjunct to the North American Bell System. Immediately before the 1984 break-up, the Bell System had the following corporate structure : On January 1, 1984, the former components of the Bell System were structured into the following Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), which became known as Baby Bells. After 1984, multiple mergers occurred of
640-488: The Bell System's Caribbean regional operating companies. The consent decree also forced Bell to make all of its patents royalty-free . This led to substantial increases in innovation, in particular in the electronics and computer sectors. Steven Weber 's The Success of Open Source characterizes the consent decree as important in fostering the open source movement. The Bell System also owned various Caribbean regional operating companies, as well as 54% of Japan's NEC and
680-597: The Bell Telephone Company in 1877, which in 1885 became AT&T. When Bell's original patent expired 15 years later in 1894, the telephone market opened to competition and 6,000 new telephone companies started while the Bell Telephone company took a significant financial downturn. On April 30, 1907, Theodore Newton Vail returned as President of AT&T. Vail believed in the superiority of one national telephone system and AT&T adopted
720-548: The Bell name and the circled-bell trademark until SBC opted for all of its companies to do business under the "SBC" name in 2002. Bell Atlantic used the Bell name and circled-bell trademark until renaming itself Verizon in 2000. Pacific Bell continued operating in California under that name (or the shortened "PacBell" nickname) until SBC purchased it. In Canada, Bell Canada ( divested from AT&T in 1975) continues to use
760-525: The DOJ had agreed upon in 1956. Before the 1956 break-up, the Bell System included the companies listed below, plus those listed in the pre-1984 section. Northern Electric and the Caribbean regional operating companies were considered part of the Bell System proper before the break-up. Nippon Electric was considered a more distant affiliate of Western Electric, and through its own research and development adapted
800-715: The Department of Justice in 1913. AT&T committed to sell its $ 30 million in Western Union capital stock, allow competitors to interconnect with its long-distance telephone network, and not acquire other independent companies without permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission . The Bell trademark was used from 1921 through 1969 by both the AT&;T corporation and the regional operating corporations to co-brand themselves under
840-808: The General Court split the district into an east and west parish, each with its own meetinghouse. With tensions between the parishes still high, the General Court set off the east parish as the Town of Granby, being incorporated on June 11, 1768. Granby is one of only three towns in Massachusetts whose local telephone service is not furnished by the former Bell System as Granby has maintained its own service, Granby Telephone & Telegraph , since 1903. The other two such towns are Richmond and Hancock , both in Berkshire County . According to
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#1732787325263880-511: The Northwestern Bell name. In 1984, each regional Bell operating company was assigned a set list of names it was allowed to use in combination with the Bell marks. By 2022, all these Bell System names had disappeared from the United States business landscape. Cincinnati Bell was the last to use the name, until 2022 when it rebranded to Altafiber , though it still has Cincinnati Bell as its corporate name. Southwestern Bell used both
920-466: The Norwottuck to hunt, fish, collect wood, and set up wigwams on the commons. Granby was settled in 1727. In November 1727, residents of what are now South Hadley and Granby petitioned the General Court to form a precinct within the Town of Hadley. This petition was granted on July 4, 1732, creating Hadley's South Precinct. In 1753, the precinct was granted district status. From 1751 through 1761,
960-547: The assets of its parent, the American Bell Telephone Company. American Bell had created AT&T to provide long-distance calls between New York and Chicago and beyond. AT&T became the parent of American Bell Telephone Company, and thus the head of the Bell System, because regulatory and tax rules were leaner in New York than in Boston, where American Bell was headquartered. Later, the Bell System and its moniker "Ma Bell" became
1000-405: The average family size was 3.15. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males. The median income for a household in the town
1040-445: The customer was required to purchase the instrument at cost, furnish it to the telephone company for rewiring, pay a service charge, and a monthly lease fee for using it. In 1949, the United States Department of Justice alleged in an antitrust lawsuit that AT&T and the Bell System operating companies were using their near-monopoly in telecommunications to attempt to establish unfair advantage in related technologies. The outcome
1080-535: The designs of Western Electric's North American telecommunications equipment for use in Japan, which to this day gives much of Japan's telephone equipment and network a closer resemblance to North American ANSI and iconectiv standards than to European-originated ITU-T standards. Before the 1956 break-up, Northern Electric was focused on manufacturing, without significant telecommunication-equipment research & development of its own. The operation of Japan's NTT during
1120-461: The district was deadlocked over whether to build a new meetinghouse west of Cold Hill, in present-day South Hadley, or to its east, in present-day Granby. In the Summer of 1761, the district's west side began constructing a meetinghouse without town meeting approval. In response, a group of 27 east side residents and three west side residents tore down the partially constructed meetinghouse. In 1762,
1160-650: The first telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut . Within a few years local exchange companies were established in every major city in the United States. Use of the Bell System name initially referred to those early telephone franchises and eventually comprised all telephone companies owned by American Telephone & Telegraph , referred to internally as associated companies , regional holding companies , or later Bell operating companies (BOCs). In 1899, American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) acquired
1200-438: The industrialized world. The 1984 Bell System divestiture brought an end to the affiliation branded as the Bell System. It resulted from another antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1974, alleging illegal practices by the Bell System companies to stifle competition in the telecommunications industry. The parties settled the lawsuit on January 8, 1982, superseding the former restrictions that AT&T and
1240-477: The marks on rare occasions to maintain their trademark rights, even less now that they have adopted names conceived long after divestiture. Examples include Verizon, which still used the Bell logo on its trucks and payphones until it updated its own logo in 2015, and Qwest, formerly US West , which licenses the Northwestern Bell and Mountain Bell names to Unical Enterprises, who makes telephones under
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1280-416: The operating companies and between them, so that some components of the former Bell System are now owned by companies independent of the historic Bell System, including foreign telecommunications firms. The structure of the companies today is as follows. The following telephone companies are considered independent of the Baby Bells : The following companies were divested after 1984 from AT&T Corp. or
1320-409: The population. There were 2,247 households, out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.8% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.0% were non-families. Of all households, 20.1% were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and
1360-572: The settlers and confirmed by the General Court . These original boundaries include part of present-day Granby. In August 1662, Pynchon negotiated a deed with Awonunsk, her husband Wequagon, and her son Squomp, for land also in present-day Granby, South Hadley and Belchertown. Ownership was transferred to the settlers and Awonunsk and her family were paid in 150 fathoms of wampum (approximately 54,000 wampum beads), 10 coats, and 2 yards of cloth, among other items. The deed also promised rights for
1400-489: The slogan One Policy, One System, Universal Service. This became the company's philosophy for the next 70 years. Under Vail, AT&T began acquiring many of the smaller telephone companies including the Western Union Telegraph Company . In response to the threat of antitrust action from government, AT&T entered into an out-of-court agreement, known as the Kingsbury Commitment with
1440-414: The various resulting 1984 spinoffs, only BellSouth actively used and promoted the Bell name and logo during its entire history, from the 1984 break-up to its reunion with the new AT&T in 2006. Similarly, cessation of using either the Bell name or logo occurred for many of the other companies more than a decade after the 1984 break-up as part of an acquisition-related rebranding. The others have only used
1480-500: The words Bell System in text, were used before January 1, 1984, when the AT&;T divestiture of its regional operating companies took effect. The word mark Bell , the logo, and other related trademarks, are held by each of the remaining Bell companies, namely AT&T, Verizon , CenturyLink , and Altafiber . International rights to the marks, except for Canada , are held by a joint venture of these companies, Bell IP Holdings . Of
1520-848: Was a 1956 consent decree limiting AT&T to 85% of the United States' national telephone network and certain government contracts, and from continuing to hold interests in Canada and the Caribbean . The Bell System's Canadian operations included the Bell Canada regional operating company and the Northern Electric manufacturing subsidiary of the Bell System's Western Electric equipment manufacturer. Western Electric divested Northern Electric in 1956, but AT&T did not divest itself of Bell Canada until 1975. ITT Inc. , then known as International Telephone & Telegraph Co. , purchased
1560-571: Was $ 54,293, and the median income for a family was $ 57,632. Males had a median income of $ 40,833 versus $ 30,597 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 23,209. About 1.0% of families and 2.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over. Granby has one public elementary school serving K–6, the East Meadow School. Middle/High School students attend Granby Junior Senior High School . The MacDuffie School ,
1600-399: Was commissioned to buy wilderness land for their new community. In 1658, Pynchon negotiated a deed with three Norwottuck sachems : Chickwalloppe (alias Wawhillowa), Umpanchela (alias Womscom), and Quonquont (alias Wompshaw). The deed reserved land for a cornfield for the Norwottuck and promised rights to hunt, fish and set up wigwams within the negotiated land. Ownership was transferred to
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