- Southwestern Bell
:"For information on the holding company Southwestern Bell Corporation, later SBC Communications, Inc., and now AT&T Inc., see
AT&T ."Infobox_Company
company_name = Southwestern Bell Telephone Company
company_
company_type = Private (Subsidiary ofAT&T )
company_slogan = Friendly. Neighborhood. Global.
foundation = 1882 (original company)
2007 (current company)
location =Dallas, Texas ,USA
key_people = Mark Keiffer, President & CEO
industry =Telecommunications
num_employees =
products = Local Telephone Service
parent =AT&T (2007-present)
revenue =
homepage = http://www.att.com/Southwestern Bell Telephone Company is a wholly owned
subsidiary ofAT&T . It does business as AT&T Southwest and otherd/b/a names in its operating region.The company is currently headquartered in
Dallas, Texas atOne AT&T Plaza .History
The Missouri and Kansas Telephone Company was officially founded in 1882 [ [http://sec.edgar-online.com/1996/03/12/00/0000092476-96-000001/Section2.asp SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE CO Annual Report (Regulation S-K, item 405) (10-K405) ITEM 1. BUSINESS ] ] [ [http://www.sos.mo.gov/imaging/12671766.pdf] ] . It was consolidated under the management of a single management unit of the
Bell System with Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company ofTexas -Arkansas , Pioneer Telephone and Telegraph Company ofOklahoma , and The Bell Telephone Company of Missouri-also called The Missouri Bell Telephone Company-onMarch 1 ,1912 . These companies comprised the "Southwestern System" of theBell System . The latter 3 companies were legally merged into Missouri and Kansas Telephone Company in 1920, which was renamed Southwestern Bell Telephone Company [http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/cso/archives/FindingGuides/91-026w.pdf] . Southwestern Bell may have also serviced Louisiana at some point, but some verification will be needed.The company was often considered the first step of the AT&T corporate "ladder" before the 1984 breakup of that company. While part of the
Bell System , it was at times the biggestBell Operating Company of the 22 AT&T owned.Changes
outhwestern Bell Corporation
:"For current information on SBC, see
AT&T ."Following the breakup of AT&T, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company was managed bySouthwestern Bell Corporation , which was ironically the smallest of all of the seven "Baby Bells ", as it only held one telephone company. Both the holding company, SBC, and Southwestern Bell Telephone itself were often referred to as "Southwestern Bell". In 1995, however, SBC decided to change its corporate name to SBC Communications, Inc. (now AT&T) in order to make itself a national telecommunications company — a move facilitated by theTelecommunications Act of 1996 . SBC acquired thePacific Telesis Group in 1997,Southern New England Telecommunications in 1998, andAmeritech in 1999.Legal status
On
December 30 ,2001 , the original Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., incorporated inMissouri , ceased to exist when it was merged into Southwestern Bell Texas, Inc., a separate operating company [ [https://www.sos.mo.gov/BusinessEntity/soskb/Corp.asp?719027 Missouri Secretary of State] ] . At that point, former properties of the 1882-founded company were transferred to a company founded the same day, Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P., incorporated inTexas [ [https://www.sos.mo.gov/BusinessEntity/soskb/Corp.asp?723316 Missouri Secretary of State] ] . This company ceased to exist onJune 29 ,2007 , when it and its properties were merged into SWBT Inc., incorporated in Missouri [ [https://www.sos.mo.gov/BusinessEntity/soskb/Corp.asp?2061881 Missouri Secretary of State] ] , which was founded just 8 days prior. At that point, SWBT Inc. took the formerly dormant name Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.Branding
From its name change in 1920 until 1999, SWBT was branded as Southwestern Bell. In 1999, SBC Communications began to attach its corporate name to the names of the Bell Operating Companies it owned. This change resulted in the Southwestern Bell logo (with the Bell logo) being followed by a divider line with "SBC Global Network" enclosed in a circle with the Pacific Telesis "access" mark. In 2000, the Bell logo was dropped from the mark of Southwestern Bell. In 2001, SBC standardized its operating company branding logos, and placed the SBC corporate logo toward the northwest of the name "Southwestern Bell", and it became known as SBC Southwestern Bell. The Southwestern Bell brand vanished in 2002 when SBC dropped the names of all its operating companies to use "SBC" as a national brand. Since
d/b/a names weren't approved until the beginning of 2003, the Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. name remained on phone book covers issed in December 2002 and January 2003.After
d/b/a names were approved, SBC began to officially use the Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P. name conjoined with the following titles:
* d/b/a SBC Arkansas
* d/b/a SBC Kansas
* d/b/a SBC Missouri
* d/b/a SBC Oklahoma
* d/b/a SBC Texas SBC then created SBC Southwest as a collective d/b/a name for all of Southwestern Bell's operations.SBC Communications boughtAT&T Corp. onNovember 18 ,2005 , and changed its name to AT&T Inc. Shortly afterwards, onJanuary 15 ,2006 , AT&T companies were given newd/b/a names. As a result, officially, Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P. is now joined with the titles:
* d/b/a AT&T Arkansas
* d/b/a AT&T Kansas
* d/b/a AT&T Missouri
* d/b/a AT&T Oklahoma
* d/b/a AT&T TexasThe collective d/b/a name is now AT&T Southwest.Branded products
Southwestern Bell began licensing its name to
Conair Corporation shortly after the AT&T breakup, creating the Southwestern Bell Freedom Phone. Conair continues to produce this line of telephones and telephone accessories. [ [http://www.swbfreedomphone.com/ Southwestern Bell Freedom Phone] ]Headquarters
AT&T is now based at One AT&T Plaza in Dallas, TX. AT&T Internet Services is based in River Place in Austin, TX
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.