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Cybertelecom Federal Internet Law & Policy An Educational Project |
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Mergers | |
Major Telecom Mergers through history (note this does not reflect a lot of the wireless companies): See Also Communications Timeline ; See Industry :: Backbones noting major Internet Backbone mergers.
EDITOR NOTE: CONSOLIDATE THIS PAGE WITH INDUSTRY ANTTIRUST
| Year | |||||||||
| 1845 | |||||||||
| 1851 | NY&MI Telegraph Co est. | ||||||||
| 1856 | NY&MI becomes Western Union | American Telegraph Co Est | |||||||
| 1857 | New York Albany and Buffalo Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company | Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph Company | Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company | New Orleans & Ohio Telegraph Company | |||||
| 1864 | US Telegraph Co Est. | ||||||||
| 1866 | Acquires US Telegraph and American Telegraph | << American Telegraph | << US Telegraph | ||||||
| 1873 | Acquires Intl Ocean Telegraph Co. | City and Suburban Telegraph Company Est. | |||||||
| 1877 | American Bell est | ||||||||
| 1878 | SNET est` | ||||||||
| 1879 | AT&T & WU >> |
<< Western Union | |||||||
| 1882 | American Bell < |
||||||||
| 1885 | AT&T subsidiary of American Bell | ||||||||
| 1892 | |||||||||
| 1899 | American Bell becomes AT&T | Brown Telephone Est. | |||||||
| 1903 | Becomes Cincinnati and Suburban Bell Telephone | ||||||||
| 1908 | AT&T acquires controlling interest in WU | <- Western Union | |||||||
| 1913 | Kingsbury Commitment AT&T divests |
-> Western Union | Richland Telephone Co. Becomes | ||||||
| 1918 | AT&T nationalized during WWI | ||||||||
| 1919 | AT&T reprivitized | ||||||||
| 1926 | Becomes Associated Telephone | ||||||||
| 1942 | Brown Telephone becomes United Utilities | ||||||||
| 1945 | WU mergers with Pacific Postal Telegraph | ||||||||
| 1959 | Becomes GTE | ||||||||
| 1968 | MCI Est | ||||||||
| 1971 | Becomes Cincinnati Bell | ||||||||
| 1972 | United Utilities becomes United Telecom | ||||||||
| 1974 | Telenet Est | ||||||||
| 1979 | Telenet> | > GTE] | |||||||
| 1983 | Goto Current | Goto 1998 | Goto 2000 | LLDS Est. | |||||
| 1984 | AT&T Divestiture > |
SW Bell > | PacTel > | Bell Atlantic > | NYNEX> | Ameritech > | US West > | Bell South goto 2006 |
|
| 1986 | AT&T IXC | United Telecom becomes Sprint | |||||||
| 1987 | Goto 1996 | Fleet Net Est. | UUNet Est | ||||||
| 1990 | |||||||||
| 1991 | |||||||||
| 1992 | |||||||||
| 1993 | SW Bell becomes SBC | Fleet Net Becomes Nextel | |||||||
| 1994 | |||||||||
| 1995 | LLDS becomes WCOM | ||||||||
| 1996 | AT&T divests Lucent NCR |
SBC< |
< PacTel < |
Qwest Founded | UUNet ->> MFS | ||||
| 1997 | MFS->> WCOM | ||||||||
| 1998 | SBC < |
< SNET< | <-NYNEX | Goto 2002 | WCOM >>MCI | ||||
| 1999 | |||||||||
| 2000 | <GTE< Genuity spun off |
Broadwing Acquired by Cincinnati Bell | |||||||
| 2001 | AT&T divests AT&T Wireless | ||||||||
| 2002 | Comcast acquires AT&T Broadband | <Ameritech< | Level3 acquires Genuity | ||||||
| 2003 | Cincinnati Bell sells Broadwing to Covis | ||||||||
| 2004 | Cingular< |
< AT&T Wireless | |||||||
| 2005 | SBC Becomes AT&T | <-MCI< | >Nextel-Sprint< | <<< | |||||
| 2006 | Comcast acquires Adelphia | < Bell South | Broadwing acquired by Level3 | ||||||
| 2007 | AT&T | Verizon | Qwest | Cincinnati Bell | Nextel Sprint | ||||
| 2008 | |||||||||
| 2009 | |||||||||
| 2010 | |||||||||
| 2011 | Comcast acquires NBCU | Centurylink acquires Qwest and Savvis | Level3 acquires GC | ||||||
| 2012 | |||||||||
| 2013 | |||||||||
| 2014 | Level3 acquires Time Warner Telecom | ||||||||
| 2015 | Comcast / TWC Merger Blocked | AT&T / DirecTV Merger | Charter announces intention to acquire TWC | ||||||
| 2016 | Verizon Acquring XO | Charter / TWC merger approved |
© Cybertelecom :: © Cybertelecom ::Mergers
2002
AT&T / Comcast 2011
Level 3 / Global Crossing Comcast NBC AT&TMobile (Blocked) 2014
Comcast / Time Warner Cable AT&T / Dish Network 1879: First telephone exchange in Ohio. City and Suburban Telegraph Company records 145,392 calls for the year. [Cincinatti Bell History]
"The first Bell telephone company started in 1878. This is now known as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), which was incorporated in 1885. - History of Wire and Broadcast Communication, FCC (May 1993):
1883: Globe Telephone Co established in NY. Meucci assigns all rights to his teletrofono invention to it. [Catania]
1884: 370 telephone subscribers served by Atlanta Telephone Exchange. [Atlanta]
- 1894:
- 1409 Bell Exchanges + 98 independant exchanges = 1507 exchanges [Mueller p 61 1997]
- 28 cities had service from at least two companies [Mueller p 56 1997]
- 1894-98: 1074 independent telephone companies began operations. [Mueller p 55 1997]
- 1895-97: 220 cities had service from at least two companies [Mueller p 56 1997]
- 1897:
- Independants had 19% of the local market [Sterling p 71]
- 1799 Bell Exchanges + 1700 Independant Exchanges = 3499 Exchanges [Mueller p 61 1997]
1899: Brown Telephone Co established [Sprint] See 1942
- 1902:
- 3000 commercial companies with 44% of the local market [Sterling p 71]
- 3005 Bell Exchanges + 3400Independant Exchanges = 6405 Exchanges [Mueller p 61 1997]
- 1904:
- 3365 Bell Exchanges + 4400 Independant Exchanges = 7765 Exchanges [Mueller p 61 1997]
- "Between 1894 and 1904, over six thousand independent telephone companies went into business in the United States, and the number of telephones boomed from 285,000 to 3,317,000." [AT&T History Origins
]
- 1907:
- 4889 Bell Exchanges + 5400 Independant Exchanges = 10,289 Exchanges [Mueller p 61 1997]
- Independants had 49% of the local market. [Sterling p 71]
1913: (1918?) Richland Telephone Co. in Wisconsin is purchased by O'Connell, Odegard, and Pratt. Becomes Associated Telephone Utilities in 1926. [Scripophily] [Funding Uni]
1920: Richland Telephone Co. becomes Commonwealth Telephone Company. [Funding Uni]
1926: Commonweath Telephone Co (WI) purchased Associated Telephone Utilities (CA) and the company takes the name Associated Telephone Utilities. [Scripophily] [LOC Associated Telephone Annual Reports] Associated would acquire 340 telephone companies in the next 5 years. [Funding Uni]
1933: Associated Telephone Utilites goes into receivership and emerges in 1935 reorganized as General Telephone. [Scripophily] [Funding Uni]
1942: Brown Telephone becomes United Utilities. [Sprint]
1955: General Telephone acquires Thomas Gary & Co, 2nd largest independant telephone co. See 1956. [Funding Uni]
1956: General Telephone merges with Sylvania to become GTE. [Scripophily][Funding Uni]
1960: Telephone Communications Company established. [Funding Uni]
1961: Telephone Communications Company acquires Central Western Company and becomes Continental Telephone. [Funding Uni]
1964: GTE acquires Western Utilities Co. 2nd larges Indie Telephone Co. [Funding Uni] See 1983.
1972: United Utilities becomes United Telecom. [Sprint]
1979: GTE Acquires Telenet from BBN. [BBN] See GTE 1983
1983: GTE acquires Southern Pacific Co. / Sprint [Scripophily] becomes third largest telco. [Funding Uni]
1985: Level3 Established under the name of Kiewit Diversified Group. [L3]
1986: Continental Telephone becomes Contel. [Funding Uni]
1988: GTE Sells Sprint to Unitied Utilities. [Scripophily] [Funding Uni] [Sprint]
1990: Contel acquires McCaw Cellular. [Funding Uni] See 1991
1991: GTE and Contel merge to become GTE. [Funding Uni]
1999: Verizon buys GTE; spins off Genuity (BBN Network). [Scripophily]
2003: Level3 Acquires Genuity. [L3]
2005: Sprint and Nextel Merge to form Sprint Nextel.
- Applications of AT&T Inc. and DIRECTV for Consent to Assign or Transfer Control of Licenses and Authorizations, MB Docket No. 14-90 (filed June 11, 2014)
- Applications of Sprint Nextel Corp. and SoftBank Corp. and Starburst II, Inc. for Consent to Transfer Control of Licenses and Authorizations, IB Docket No. 12-343, Memorandum Opinion and Order, Declaratory Ruling, and Order on Reconsideration, 28 FCC Rcd 9642, (2013)
- Applications of Comcast Corporation, General Electric Company, and NBC Universal, Inc. for Consent to Assign Licenses and Transfer Control of Licensees, MB Docket No. 10-56, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 26 FCC Rcd 4238 (2011)
- Applications for Consent to the Transfer of Control of Licenses, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., Transferor, to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., Transferee, Memorandum Opinion and Order and Report and Order, 23 FCC Rcd 12348 (2008)
- News Corp. and DIRECTV Group, Inc. and Liberty Media Corp. for Authority to Transfer Control, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 23 FCC Rcd 3265 (2008)
- Applications for Consent to the Assignment and/or Transfer of Control of Licenses Adelphia Communications Corporation (and Subsidiaries, Debtors-In-Possession), Assignors, to Time Warner Cable Inc. (Subsidiaries), Assignees, Adelphia Communications Corporation, (and Subsidiaries, Debtors-In-Possession), Assignors and Transferors, to Comcast Corporation (Subsidiaries), Assignees and Transferees, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 21 FCC Rcd 8203 (2006)
- General Motors Corp. and Hughes Electronics Corp., Transferors, and the News Corporation, Transferee, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 19 FCC Rcd 473 (2004)
- Application of EchoStar Communications Corporation, General Motors Corporation, and Hughes Electronics Corporation (Transferors) and EchoStar Communications Corporation (Transferee), Hearing Designation Order, 17 FCC Rcd 20559 (2002)
- Application for Consent to Transfer of Control of Licenses from Comcast Corporation and AT&T Corp., Transferors, to AT&T Comcast Corporation, Transferee, Memorandum Opinion and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 23246 (2002)
- Applications for Consent to the Transfer of Control of Licenses and Section 214 Authorizations from MediaOne Group, Inc. to AT&T Corp., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 15 FCC Rcd 9816 (2000)
- Application of WorldCom, Inc. and MCI Communications Corporation for Transfer of Control of MCI Communications Corporation to WorldCom, Inc., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 13 FCC Rcd 18025 (1998)
Links
- Telephone History Webpage
- Atlanta Telephone History
- BBN History
- BellSouth Telephone Museum
- Cincinnati Bell History
- Communications Workers of America Profile and History
- Funding Universe: GTE
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: 1919 - 1919 Making the Copnnections - The IBEW and the Telephone
- Level3 History
- Scripophily Associated Telephone Company
- Sprint Corporate History