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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.
telephone. telecommunication. 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 operating ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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.
AT&T and the Bell System. According to historian Robert W Garnet, in the six years after Bell's invention of the telephone in 1876, his new company managed to increase its capital from a small amount to US$10 million (equivalent to $320 million in 2023).
Jan 1, 1984 · A new era for American telecommunications and for American business begins today as the once-unified Bell System begins life as eight separate companies. It is a time of great expectations and...
The Bell System included Western Electric (manufacturing), Bell Laboratories (research and development), AT&T Long Lines and the regional Bell operating companies. The American telephone monopoly provided what was by all accounts the best telephone service in the world.
