was one of the 22 Local Exchange Carriers that were part of the
AT&T Bell System . In
1984 , after the
Bell System Divestiture , Michigan Bell and four other Midwestern telephone companies became part of
Ameritech . Ameritech was one of the 7 original Bell
Regional Holding Companies or "Baby Bells." By the early 90's Ameritech phased out state specific names such as Michigan Bell in favor of using the Ameritech name for marketing purposes. After Ameritech's acquisition by SBC Communications, the former Ameritech companies briefly used the name SBC Ameritech, as transition to a unified "SBC" brand name in all 13 states in which SBC then did business. No sooner had this been accomplished then, in
2005 , SBC Communications acquired AT&T. Judging the venerable AT&T name to be a greater asset than the SBC name, the newly merged company began doing business throughout the United States as the "new"
AT&T .
Despite all of its name changes, Michigan Bell has been in continuous existence since 1904, and is still the legal entity that provides telephone service throughout most of
Michigan . As of 2006, it had approximately 8900 employees. It is headquartered in Detroit, but correspondence should be directed to 225 W. Randolph St., Floor 27A, Chicago, IL 60606.
