BellSouth Telecommunications

Encyclopedia : B : BE : BEL : BellSouth Telecommunications

For the holding company created in 1984 as a Regional Bell Operating Company, see BellSouth.

History

Southern Bell

Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Company was the Bell Operating Company serving most of the south. Southern Bell provided telephone service to Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

In the 1960s, Southern Bell's operations in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee were split off to form South Central Bell. 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 headquarted in (what is now) the BellSouth Building, in Atlanta, GA.

South Central Bell

South Central Bell Telephone Company was the name of the Bell System's operations in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. South Central Bell was created in the late 1960s, 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.

South Central Bell's headquarters were in Birmingham, Alabama.

Operating Company Merger

On January 1, 1992, BellSouth merged South Central Bell and Southern Bell into a single operating company, BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., one year after U S West had done the same by creating U S West Communications. The merger essentially 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 BellSouth was simply used.

BellSouth Telecommunications headquarters are located in the former Southern Bell headquarters, in BellSouth Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and BellSouth Corporation's headquarters are located in the Campanile building, also in Atlanta.

On March 5, 2006, AT&T announced its intentions to acquire BellSouth Corporation. BellSouth Telecommunications may become an operating company of AT&T, if the merger is successfully completed.

See also

• BellSouth

FY 2005) | Employees: 63,000  | Stock Symbol: NYSE: [BLS] | Website: [www.bellsouthcorp.com]