AT&T Corporation
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Bell System. 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 breakup of the Bell System was mandated on January 8, 1982, by a consent decree providing that AT&T Corporation would, as had been initially proposed by AT&T, relinquish control of the Bell Operating Companies, which had provided local telephone service in the United States.
Learn about the origins, achievements, and demise of the Bell System, the former telecommunications giant that provided phone service to most Americans. Explore articles, photos, artifacts, and sound clips from the past and present of the Bell System.
Bell System, a former American telephone system, governed by American Telephone & Telegraph Company (now AT&T Corporation; q.v.) and including Western Electric Company (q.v.), the system’s manufacturer; Bell Laboratories (q.v.), the research and development facility; and other departments
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jan 24, 2022 · Learn how the federal government settled a lawsuit with AT&T in 1982, leading to the breakup of the Bell System and the rise of regional and national telecommunications providers. Explore the historical context, the milestones, and the modern implications of the AT&T divestiture.
The Bell Telephone Company was the initial corporate entity from which the Bell System originated to build a continental conglomerate and monopoly in telecommunication services in the United States and Canada.
Telephone Company Histories - Introduction. The Bell System’s history stretches back to 1876, with founder Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone. Bell, Thomas Sanders and Gardiner G. Hubbard formed The Bell Patent Association in order to capitalize on the invention.
