Ameritech
Encyclopedia
AT&T Teleholdings, Inc., formerly known as Ameritech Corporation (and before that American Information Technologies Corporation), was a U.S. telecommunication
s company that arose out of the 1984 AT&T
divestiture. Ameritech was one of the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies
that was created following the breakup of the Bell System
. Ameritech was acquired by SBC Communications in 1999 which subsequently acquired AT&T Corporation
in 2006, becoming the present-day AT&T Inc
.
Ameritech was created as a holding company
; under its umbrella were:
For Ameritech's first nine years, it maintained these Bell brands inherited from the Bell System—though public displays of the Bell companies' names were often captioned "An Ameritech Company". In January 1993, Ameritech officially retired the Bell brands and marketed itself with solely the Ameritech name across all five states in its territory. It added "d/b/a Ameritech (state)" to the names of its Bells to communicate brand unity.
Ameritech also owned Ameritech Cellular
, a wireless company that operated cellular networks in many of the major cities of these states. Ameritech Cellular was previously called Ameritech Mobile Communications.
Prior to its merger with SBC Communications, Ameritech's corporate headquarters were in a leased space above the Chicago Mercantile Exchange
on floors 34 through 39 of 30 S Wacker Dr, Chicago IL
. Further corporate offices were located at 225 W Randolph St, Chicago IL (formerly "The Illinois Bell Building") and 2000 W. Ameritech Center Drive, Hoffman Estates, IL ("The Ameritech Center"). It was traded on the NYSE under the "AIT" symbol.
SBC and Ameritech officially merged on 1999-10-08. Prior to the merger, Ameritech's Chairman and CEO was Richard Notebaert
, who later (in 2002) became CEO of competitor Qwest
.
changed its d/b/a names, and Ameritech was again renamed, becoming AT&T Teleholdings, Inc. and began doing business as AT&T Midwest.
Several Ameritech subsidiaries remain legally named "Ameritech", such as Ameritech Advanced Services; however, they do business as "AT&T Advanced Solutions".
In 2006, the holding companies Pacific Telesis
and Southern New England Telecommunications
were legally merged into AT&T Teleholdings. The company then became a holding company for Pacific Bell
(and its subsidiary Nevada Bell
) and Southern New England Telephone.
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s company that arose out of the 1984 AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
divestiture. Ameritech was one of the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies
Regional Bell Operating Company
The Regional Bell Operating Companies are the result of United States v. AT&T, the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company . On January 8, 1982, AT&T Corp. settled the suit and agreed to divest its local exchange service operating...
that was created following the breakup of the Bell System
Bell System
The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
. Ameritech was acquired by SBC Communications in 1999 which subsequently acquired AT&T Corporation
American Telephone & Telegraph
AT&T Corp., originally American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American telecommunications company that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. AT&T is the oldest telecommunications company...
in 2006, becoming the present-day AT&T Inc
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
.
Ameritech was created as a holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
; under its umbrella were:
- Illinois BellIllinois BellIllinois Bell is the name of the Bell Operating Company serving Illinois. It is wholly owned by AT&T.Their headquarters are at 225 West Randolph St., Chicago, IL. After the 1984 Bell System Divestiture, Illinois Bell became a part of Ameritech, one of the 7 original Regional Bell Operating Companies...
Telephone Company - Indiana BellIndiana BellIndiana Bell Telephone Company, Inc., is the Bell Operating Company serving Indiana. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc.After the 1984 Bell System Divestiture, Indiana Bell became a part of Ameritech, one of the 7 original Regional Bell Operating Companies...
Telephone Company, Inc. - Michigan BellMichigan BellMichigan Bell is the subsidiary of AT&T serving the state of Michigan. Following the Bell System divestiture on January 8, 1982, the company became a subsidiary of Ameritech, the Regional Bell operating company that served the midwestern United States...
Telephone Company - Ohio BellOhio BellThe Ohio Bell Telephone Company is the Bell Operating Company serving most of Ohio. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T.Its headquarters is the Ohio Bell Building at 750 Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio...
Telephone Company - Wisconsin BellWisconsin BellWisconsin Bell, Inc. is the name of the Bell Operating Company serving Wisconsin. They were a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc.....
, Inc.
For Ameritech's first nine years, it maintained these Bell brands inherited from the Bell System—though public displays of the Bell companies' names were often captioned "An Ameritech Company". In January 1993, Ameritech officially retired the Bell brands and marketed itself with solely the Ameritech name across all five states in its territory. It added "d/b/a Ameritech (state)" to the names of its Bells to communicate brand unity.
Ameritech also owned Ameritech Cellular
Ameritech Cellular
Ameritech Mobile Communications, LLC was the first company in the United States to provide cellular mobile phone service to the general public. Cell service became publicly available in Chicago on October 13, 1983...
, a wireless company that operated cellular networks in many of the major cities of these states. Ameritech Cellular was previously called Ameritech Mobile Communications.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is an American financial and commodity derivative exchange based in Chicago. The CME was founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board. Originally, the exchange was a non-profit organization...
on floors 34 through 39 of 30 S Wacker Dr, Chicago IL
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Further corporate offices were located at 225 W Randolph St, Chicago IL (formerly "The Illinois Bell Building") and 2000 W. Ameritech Center Drive, Hoffman Estates, IL ("The Ameritech Center"). It was traded on the NYSE under the "AIT" symbol.
Merger with SBC Communications
In May 1998, Ameritech announced its intent to merge with SBC Communications. This brought great concern to Federal and state regulators, who in turn didn't approve the merger until SBC and Ameritech agreed to several conditions to ensure adequate competition. Most notably, regulators required:- that the merged company offer local phone service in thirty markets outside of its home territory within thirty months of the merger (i.e. by April 2002) or pay a $1.18B penalty
- and that Ameritech CellularAmeritech CellularAmeritech Mobile Communications, LLC was the first company in the United States to provide cellular mobile phone service to the general public. Cell service became publicly available in Chicago on October 13, 1983...
assets in Chicago be sold to GTEGTEGTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System....
. Since SBC already had a majority stake in a large mobile provider (Cellular OneCellular OneCellular One is the trademarked brand name used by several cellular service providers in the United States and Bermuda. The brand was sold to Trilogy Partners by AT&T in 2008 shortly after AT&T had completed its acquisition of Dobson Communications...
), the merged company, if it were to operate Ameritech Cellular and Cellular One both in the same market, would have wielded too much market power.
SBC and Ameritech officially merged on 1999-10-08. Prior to the merger, Ameritech's Chairman and CEO was Richard Notebaert
Richard Notebaert
Richard C. Notebaert is the former Chairman and CEO of Qwest, Tellabs and Ameritech. He was credited for saving Qwest and Tellabs from bankruptcy, and making Ameritech the most successful "Baby Bell"....
, who later (in 2002) became CEO of competitor Qwest
Qwest
Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a large United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.On April...
.
The end of Ameritech
On January 15, 2003, SBC Communications changed its d/b/a names, and then changed the legal name of Ameritech Corp. to SBC Teleholdings, Inc., and would begin doing business as SBC Midwest. On January 15, 2006, AT&TAT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
changed its d/b/a names, and Ameritech was again renamed, becoming AT&T Teleholdings, Inc. and began doing business as AT&T Midwest.
Several Ameritech subsidiaries remain legally named "Ameritech", such as Ameritech Advanced Services; however, they do business as "AT&T Advanced Solutions".
In 2006, the holding companies Pacific Telesis
Pacific Telesis
Pacific Telesis Group was one of the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies, sometimes also referred to as "RBOCs" or "Baby Bells", created in 1983 in preparation of the breakup of AT&T as a holding company for Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, Pacific Telesis International and several other...
and Southern New England Telecommunications
Southern New England Telecommunications
Southern New England Telecommunications Corporation started operations in 1986 as the holding company for The Southern New England Telephone Company. Prior to 1986, The Southern New England Telephone Company had been a minority holding of AT&T until February 1986, when AT&T withdrew its 23% holding...
were legally merged into AT&T Teleholdings. The company then became a holding company for Pacific Bell
Pacific Bell
The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company was the name of the Bell System's telephone operations in California. It gained in size by acquiring smaller telephone companies along the Pacific coast, such as Sunset Telephone & Telegraph in 1917...
(and its subsidiary Nevada Bell
Nevada Bell
Nevada Bell Telephone Company, originally Bell Telephone Company of Nevada, was the Bell System's telephone provider in Nevada. It only provides telephone services to 30% of the state, not including Las Vegas, where service is provided by CenturyLink...
) and Southern New England Telephone.
External links
- Bell System Memorial's RBOC page
- FCC APPROVES SBC-AMERITECH MERGER SUBJECT TO COMPETITION-ENHANCING CONDITIONS (FCC decree allowing merger)
- RBOCs