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(from "The Unathorized Bio of the Baby Bells & Info-Scandal"
updated December 2001)
For over 100 years, Ma Bell, sometimes called the "Bell System"
sometimes called "AT&T", controlled almost all telecommunications
in the US. Once the largest company in the world with over one million
employees, the company consisted of 22 local Bell companies, (including
New York Telephone and Ohio Bell), AT&T Long Lines, (the long
distance division) as well as Western Electric, (the subsidiary
that manufactured telephone equipment) and Bell Labs, one of the
premier research organizations.
Then in 1984, because of the monopoly control the company had over
phone service, the company was broken-up and the local Bell phone
companies were divvied up among seven, artificially created, very
large companies called "Regional Bell Operating Companies" (RBOCs,
pronounced "R-BOKS") or sometimes the "Regional Bell Holding Companies"
(RHC) and sometimes "The Baby Bells".
Please note: AT&T no longer has any ownership relationship
with the Bell companies. However, in our 1993 consumer survey, we
found that about 1/4 of the population thought that AT&T still
owned the Bell companies. Meanwhile 5% still call the companies
"Ma Bell", or the "Bell Company".
Each company controls specific geographic regions of the US. For
example, Ameritech controlled a five-state region: Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.
This diagram gives the original Baby
Bells, the phone company(s) it controlled, and the state(s).
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Today, because of numerous mergers,
there are only 4 Bells: |
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- BellSouth
- SBC Communications, which owns Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell,
Ameritech, SNET
- Verizon, which owns Bell Atlantic, NYNEX, and GTE
- Qwest, which now owns US West
However, there is mass confusion on the part of the customers, not
only because of these mergers, but also because of the various name
changes. |
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What's in a Name? Renaming the Local
Phone Companies |
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Over the last seven years, all of the holding companies removed
the local Bell name for the name of the holding company.
- New York Telephone became NYNEX, then Bell Atlantic and the
Verizon.
- Ohio Bell, Indiana Bell, Wisconsin Bell, Michigan Bell and Illinois
Bell were all renamed "Ameritech"
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Hundreds of Companies with RBOC Name |
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The holding companies own literally hundreds of other companies,
each with their name-brand.For example, here are just a few of the
NYNEX companies:
- NYNEX Entertainment & Information Services Company
- NYNEX Asset Management Company, NYNEX Credit Company
- NYNEX Capital Funding Company
- NYNEX Trade Finance Company. (source: NYNEX 3rd Q, 1997)
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Mergers and More Renaming |
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In 1997, two Bells purchased two other Bells, making a new total
of five companies.
- Bell Atlantic & NYNEX -- All NYNEX states were renamed Bell
Atlantic.
- SBC Communications (formerly Southwestern Bell) & Pacific
Telesis
In the law few years, there have been even more changes:
- SBC Communications purchased SNET and Ameritech
- Bell Atlantic and NYNEX changed their name to Verizon, and purchased
GTE
- US West became Qwest
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Two Bell Companies Escaped |
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Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone (SNET)
were both spun off after the break-up. However, SNET was recently
aquired by SBC Communications. |
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Other Local Companies |
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There were over 1,400 other local phone
companies in 1984, including United/Sprint, Lincoln Telephone or Rochester
Telephone (renamed Frontier). However, the number of independent companies
has been diminishing For example, GTE was the largest independent
and was the size of one of the original Bell companies. It was also
a holding company, owning numerous local telephone properties throughout
the US, from California to Virginia. As mentioned earlier, it is now
part of Verizon. |
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Thousands of Other Telephone Companies |
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There are literally thousands of communications companies,
and their relationships and services they offer are at best, fuzzy
to the general public. Here's the basics: |
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Big Difference --- Local Vs Long
Distance Companies |
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A "Long Distance" phone call crosses state Lines. A
call from New York to New Jersey or Texas to Arkansas are long distance.
Every other call is either a local call, which is usually 10 miles
near your home or office or a Toll call. AT&T and MCI today are
mostly long distance companies, offering long distance calling, while
the Bells are local phone companies, and are only starting to offer
long distance services. So far, only five states have given the companies
permission, because they have not fulfilled their requirements to
first open their networks to competition. We argue that the Bells
should never have been allowed into long distance services, for a
number of good reasons, including the documented harm to competitors. |
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Long Distance Resellers
Hundreds of companies 'resell' long distance services; i.e., the
company purchases services from AT&T or MCI in bulk and then
"resells' the service, usually nationally, with their own name brand
on it.
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Other Important Distinctions: Local
Competitors |
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CAPS (Competitive Access Providers) also called CLECs
(Competitive Local Exchange Companies)
There is another growing group of companies referred to as CAPs,
who also offer local telephone service. . Some companies have their
own installations, including Mc Cleod USA, Allegiance Telecom, and
Focal. . Most companies only offer local business services in selected
area codes in America.
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D-LECS and B-LECs
There are other types of local competitors: For example, the D-LECs
(shorthand for Data-CLEC) offer primarily data or DSL services,
such as Covad or Rhythms, while the B-LECs (shorthand for Building-CLEC)
offer services by wiring buildings, such as ARC.
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"Wireless," "PCS", "Cellular" and "Pay Phones"
There are thousands of other companies who offer a wide array of
non-wireline services, such as the wireless, PCS, or cellular companies.
Also, numerous companies offer independent pay-phone services.
The bottom line however is that the Bell companies own the wire
into customer's homes and offices, and therefore they are a monopoly
on local phone services. All competitors have to attach to their
networks to offer local phone services.
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