It looks like “Ma Bell” is one step closer to being reunited. If you haven’t heard yet, AT&T has announced it plans to acquire BellSouth. According to the press announcement this merger of the two companies is to “streamline the ownership and operations of Cingular Wireless”.
In case you’ve forgotten this is just the next step in a long line of buyouts. Cingular Wireless purchased AT&T wireless for about $41 billion way back in 2004. At the time, Cingular was a joint venture of SBC and BellSouth. A year later, the majority holder of Cingular, SBC, purchased AT&T for about $16 billion.
Full circle? Southwestern Bell Corporation, or SBC, was one of the seven “baby bells” to be created after the antitrust actions against AT&T in 1983. In 1998 SBC acquired two of the other “baby bells” Ameritech and Pacific Telesis Group along with a third independent phone company, SNET.
So, now AT&T or “Ma Bell” is owned by the “Baby Bell” SBC, which in turn now owns the other “Baby Bells” Ameritech, PacTel, and BellSouth. And while we’re at it, this will give ownership of yellowpages.com to AT&T. Yellowpages.com was formally a partnership between AT&T and BellSouth… no need for that partnership now.