BellSouth Telecommunications

BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. is the Bell Operating Company of AT&T that serves the southeastern United States. BellSouth Telecommunications was formed on January 1, 1992 when BellSouth merged its operating companies, Southern Bell and South Central Bell, into one entity.

BellSouth Telecommunications was previously a holding of BellSouth Corporation but was acquired by AT&T Inc on December 29, 2006. BellSouth Telecommunications/AT&T Southeast regional headquarters are located in the AT&T Midtown Center building in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth Corporation's headquarters were located in the Campanile building in Atlanta.

History

Southern Bell

Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Company was the Bell Operating Company serving the states of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. Southern Bell may have gotten started alongside Southwestern Bell, which was founded during 1920; state Bells may have existed before Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph had existed although sources may be needed for verification. Southern Bell also operated in Charleston and other parts of West Virginia from 1883 until 1917, when C&P Telephone took over operations[1].

On December 20, 1967 Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company forms South Central Bell Telephone Company to operate in five of its nine states. Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. A similar arrangement occurred in 1961 when Pacific Northwest Bell was formed from Pacific Telephone.

In 1984, Southern Bell became a holding of BellSouth Corporation.

Southern Bell was headquartered in (what is now) the AT&T Midtown Center building in Atlanta, Georgia.

South Central Bell

South Central Bell Telephone Company was the name of the Bell System's operations in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. South Central Bell was created in July 1968 when the Bell telephone operations in those states were split off from Southern Bell, similar to how Pacific Northwest Bell split off from Pacific Telephone & Telegraph around the same time period.

In 1984, South Central Bell became a holding of BellSouth Corporation, effectively reuniting South Central Bell with Southern Bell.

South Central Bell was headquartered in (what is now) the AT&T City Center building in Birmingham, Alabama.

BellSouth Services

BellSouth Services, Inc. was the name of the shared service company formed to provide common functions such as engineering and information technology across the nine state Southern Bell and South Central Bell operating region.

The division was headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

BellSouth Services was merged with the operating companies in 1992 into BellSouth Telecommunications.

Operating Company Merger

On January 1, 1992, BellSouth merged Southern Bell, South Central Bell, and BellSouth Services into a single operating company, BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., one year after US West had done the same by creating U S West Communications. The merger recreated Southern Bell before the South Central Bell split-off. BellSouth Telecommunications continued to do business as Southern Bell and South Central Bell until 1995, when corporate name BellSouth was used.

AT&T Midtown Center, BellSouth Telecommunications (d/b/a AT&T Southeast) headquarters, Atlanta

Acquisition

On March 5, 2006, AT&T announced its intentions to acquire BellSouth Corporation, and on December 29, 2006 BellSouth Telecommunications became an operating company of AT&T under the name AT&T-Southeast. [2]

BellSouth Telecommunications ceased doing business under the BellSouth name on June 30, 2007.

See also

• BellSouth Corporation
• AT&T
• American Telephone and Telegraph Company
• Bell System
• Bell System Divestiture