MediaOne Group, Inc. (Comcast MO Group, Inc.) was created by US WEST Inc, one of the original Baby Bells

Regional Bell Operating Companies The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of '' United States v. AT&T'', the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp.). On January 8, 1 ...

, acquisition of Boston-based Continental Cable and combined with its previously acquired Atlanta-based Wometco/GTC. Wometco/GTC adopted the MediaOne name a year earlier. Media One Group was acquired in 2000 by

AT&T Broadband AT&T Broadband was AT&T's cable operations division. It was formed in 1999 when AT&T acquired the assets of TCI and renamed it to AT&T Broadband. The next year, AT&T Broadband acquired MediaOne as well and became the largest cable operations com ...

, which was subsequently acquired by

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

in 2002.

History

U S WEST Inc. was a regional holding company formed from the combination of three

Bell Operating Companies The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America for over one hundre ...

: The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company (or

Mountain Bell Qwest Corporation is a former Regional Bell Operating Company owned by Lumen Technologies. It was formerly named U S WEST Communications, Inc. from 1991 to 2000, and also formerly named Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1911 t ...

, based in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado);

Northwestern Bell Northwestern Bell Telephone Company served the states of the upper Midwest opposite the Southwestern Bell area, including Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska. History Early beginnings It has never been definitively estab ...

, based in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

; and

Pacific Northwest Bell Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company was an AT&T majority-owned Bell System company that provided local telecommunications services in Oregon, Washington, and northern Idaho. Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company was formed on July 1, 196 ...

, based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, Washington. U S WEST Inc. also operated BetaWest, U S WEST International, as well as a directory publishing company, LANDMARK Publishing, renamed US WEST Direct and finally U S WEST Dex. On January 1, 1991, Northwestern Bell and Pacific Northwest Bell were legally merged into Mountain Bell and renamed US WEST Communications, Inc. US WEST was the first RBOC to consolidate its

(followed by other was

BellSouth BellSouth, LLC (stylized as ''BELLSOUTH'' and formerly known as BellSouth Corporation) was an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after ...

Expansion into cable

In order to segregate its regulated telephone service from its unregulated

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

businesses, US WEST Inc separated their assets and businesses into two groups named US WEST Communications Group and US WEST Media Group and issued separate tracking shares for each company. These tracking shares reflected results and prospects of the group's business, and would be traded separately. The Media Group's ticker symbol was "UMG" while Communications group continued with the "USW" ticker. In 1995, the cable modem service was later renamed to MediaOne Express. The company completed a co-branding deal with

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

's cable modem Internet business under which MediaOne would become MediaOne RoadRunner.

Acquisitions

In 1996,

U S WEST US West, Inc. (stylized as US WEST) was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs, also referred to as "Baby Bells"), created in 1983 under the Modification of Final Judgement (''United States v. Western Electric Co., Inc.'' 552 ...

acquired Continental Cablevision for $5.3 billion in stock and renamed it ''MediaOne'' (initially named ''Media1''). Amos B. Hostetter, Jr., a founder and former chairman and CEO of Continental resigned after U S WEST moved the company's headquarters from Boston, Massachusetts. In time the service also included pay-per-view, and a self-branded high-speed

cable modem A cable modem is a type of network bridge that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC), radio frequency over glass (RFoG) and coaxial cable infrastructure. Cable modems are primar ...

internet service named Hiway1 (Highway One). Hiway1 was an early provider of the cable modem technology. Most early-period modems for the service were created by the manufacturer LANcity (

Bay Networks Bay Networks was a network hardware vendor formed through the merger of Santa Clara, California based SynOptics Communications and Billerica, Massachusetts based Wellfleet Communications on July 6, 1994. SynOptics was an important early innov ...

Name change

In 1998, US WEST Inc spun off its telephone and non-telephone assets into two separate companies. US WEST, Inc., later changing its name to MediaOne Group, Inc. and U S WEST Communications and U S WEST Dex divisions to a new entity incorporated in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

named US WEST, Inc. The "new" US WEST was then spun off to shareholders of Communications Group stock. The split became effective June 12, 1998. Chuck Lillis became

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of MediaOne Group.

Acquisition by AT&T

In 1999,

first made a bid for MediaOne. Comcast said they would pay $60 billion and assume all of MediaOne's debt. On May 6, 1999 AT&T, not wanting to be outdone promised about $62 billion instead, and paid a break up fee of $1.5 billion allowing MediaOne to be purchased by

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

. MediaOne RoadRunner et al. next became AT&T branded. The portion which ran television was "AT&T Cable Television", another part for Internet became known as "

Internet" and the third became "AT&T Digital Phone". The buyout of MediaOne by AT&T happened close on the heels of AT&T's other cable company purchase TCI. That buyout by TCI already made AT&T the largest cable company, and MediaOne only served to increase their margin of leadership. In the summer of 2000, AT&T Broadband purchased the cable television system serving the city of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, then controlled by New York-based

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its e ...

, for $1.1 billion in stock, cash and a trade of other cable systems. The deal effectively made the Boston/New England region MediaOne's largest clustered market. In exchange for the Boston system, Cablevision also received several of AT&T Broadband's systems which served suburban New York communities. AT&T was unable to make the merger work for many reasons, and split the company into three separate companies: AT&T Corp. continued and retained its long distance business,

AT&T Wireless Services AT&T Wireless Services, formerly part of AT&T Corp., was a wireless telephone carrier founded in 1987 in the United States, based in Redmond, Washington, and later traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol "AWE", as a sep ...

was spun off as a public company, and

was purchased by

. At this point, MediaOne became known as Comcast MO Group, Inc.

Criticisms

US WEST, as a telephone service provider, was accused by critics of failing to meet service needs within a reasonable time frame and of practicing predatory billing and collection methods. While the company often claimed that subscriber demands were often greater than their ability to fulfill orders, many critics pointed to high profit margins, spending on bring-to-market technology and lackluster investment in customer support. US WEST went through a period of union-management relations that bordered on positive during the early 1990s. After a failed re-engineering strategy, relations fell apart due to increasing hostility between company leaders and employees. When the company rolled out its new slogan – "Life's better here" – employees began wearing buttons and shirts that stated that "Life's Bitter Here". The company was fined multiple times by the State of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

for these practices during the 1990s. US WEST was also, at several times, involved in smaller litigation with other states within its service area for similar complaints from customers. Qwest, MCI, and smaller

competitive local exchange carrier A competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), in the United States and Canada, is a telecommunications provider company (sometimes called a "carrier") competing with other, already established carriers, generally the incumbent local exchange carrier ...

s (CLECs) who had recently been allowed to offer local service within US WEST's service area (as a result of the Telecommunications Act of 1996) complained to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC) that U S WEST was uncooperative in releasing their formerly owned lines to these new companies. These types of complaints landed US WEST in court yet again, offering the complex question of whether or not the government could legally offer the sale of owned property to other companies in the event of

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

. In 1996, reports appearing in ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'' and the ''

Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...

'' revealed that CLECs had lodged complaints with the FCC against US WEST, including multiple complaints from Qwest Communications International, Inc. The complaints alleged US WEST neglected or seriously delayed release of "bundled loops" as required by the

Telecommunications Act of 1996 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of ...

, making it difficult for competitors to provide local telephone service to their customers. Other competitors began following suit, and charged US WEST with monopoly-like or anti-trust type behavior. Many customers criticized AT&T over the transitioning from Mediaone.net to attbroadband.com and subsequently attbi.com email addresses. A final subsequent change from attbi.com to Comcast.net also drew further criticism from the company's longest customers who may have gone through the several prior email changes.

Markets

The main markets & regions for MediaOne were: *"MediaOne Atlanta"—

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, Fayetteville (

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) *"MediaOne Chicago"—

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

market (

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

) *"MediaOne Denver"—

(

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

) (Note: While MediaOne was at one point a very large employer in Denver, they never actually sold any services here despite this being the location of MediaOne Labs)AT&T Absorbs MediaOne Labs After Deal Closes
/ref> *"MediaOne Florida"—

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

( Southeast/ Southwest

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

) *"MediaOne Midwest"—Metro

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

/Ann Arbor, Erie Shore Region of Ohio (Toledo, Port Clinton, Fremont, Sandusky and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

areas) (

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

) *"MediaOne Minnesota"—Twin Cities (

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

) *"MediaOne New England"—Boston (East/West

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

) *"MediaOne West"—Bakersfield, Fresno,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, Mendota, Stockton (

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

) Besides the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, MediaOne Group also had several smaller business operations in headed by CEO Ron Timmons: *

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Almost all of MediaOne's international holdings were sold off to satisfy regulators for the merger with AT&T.

References

External links

MediaOne
(archived company website from 1999) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mediaone Bell System Comcast Former AT&T subsidiaries Companies based in Boston Telecommunications companies established in 1983 Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania

History

Expansion into cable

Acquisitions

Name change

Acquisition by AT&T

Criticisms

Markets

See also

References

Further reading

External links