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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 resulted in the creation of seven independent companies that were formed from the original twenty-two AT&T-controlled members of the System. On January 1, 1984, these companies were NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, Southwestern Bell Corporation, BellSouth, and US West.
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 and 22.
The nation-wide Bell System network, which was described as the largest computer in the world, was the result of teamwork by people at AT&T, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Western Electric, and the local Bell Telephone companies.
The Bell System (AT&T and the various other companies it owned) had become the dominant phone service provider in the United States long before the 1920s; in fact, it had a monopoly on phone service even then.
Bell System was known for providing the highest-quality telephone parts in the United States, but that ended in 1984. The telephone components were then manufactured by foreign companies for Western Electric , a leading telephone company.
Jan 24, 2022 · Regardless of its long-term effects, the results of the January 8, 1982, settlement forever changed the way that we communicate in the United States and how we view the modern tech monopoly. Learn more about AT&T’s monopoly history and the breakup of the Bell System below.
