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| CATEGORIES ABOUT REGIONAL BELL OPERATING COMPANY | |
| bell system | |
| telecommunications history | |
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The Regional Bell Operating Companies ('''RBOC''') are the result of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust suit against American Telephone & Telegraph . HISTORY On January 8 , 1982 , AT&T settled the suit and agreed to divest ("spin off") its local exchange service operating companies in return for a chance to go into the Internet services industry. Effective January 1 , 1984 , AT&T's local operations were split into seven independent Regional Bell Operating Companies known as "Baby Bells." RBOCs were originally known as Regional Holding Companies, or '''RHCs''' {Link without Title} . After the Modification Of Final Judgment , the resulting ''Baby Bells'' were originally:
Prior to 1984, AT&T also held investments in two smaller and otherwise independent companies, Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone (SNET). Following the 1984 breakup, these became fully independent as well. All nine local-exchange companies were assigned a share of the rights to the Bell trademark. Additionally, there was one comparably-sized independent (non-Bell) company, GTE . Shared Trademarks After divestiture AT&T was prohibited from using the Bell name or logo, and those trademarks would be shared by the RBOCs. After the BellSouth acquisition, Cincinnati Bell and Bell Canada are the last former AT&T companies to still carry the "Bell" name. Current use of the Bell logo includes Verizon who uses the Bell logo on its payphones (including former GTE payphones), hard hats, trucks, and buildings. Additionally, Malheur Bell , a Qwest -owned independent uses the Bell name and logo. Original 1984 Regional Holding Company Logos |
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