Frontier West Virginia, Inc. is one of the original
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 ...
and provides
local telephone service in the
U.S. state of
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
.
History
The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia, originally part of the
Bell System
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 hundr ...
, was founded on January 1, 1917. C&P of WV took over telephone operations in
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
being served by
Central District and Printing Telegraph Company,
Southern Bell, and
The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of Maryland.
Dial service was first introduced by C&P of West Virginia in 1925 to the
Huntington central office.
Bell Atlantic ownership
In 1984, The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia became a holding of
Bell Atlantic, upon the divestiture of the
Bell System
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 hundr ...
by
AT&T.
Charleston became the first city in the United States to have a choice of long-distance companies. By dialing "1" plus the area code and number, they could choose their long-distance carrier. Charleston was the nation's first test market for the service, allowing 34,000 customers to choose from one of eight long-distance companies serving the area.
C&P Telephone Co. of WV was the last
Bell Atlantic company to provide
party line telephone service. The last party line was converted to "private line" service on October 30, 1989.
In 1993, C&P Telephone of West Virginia took its last analog switch out of service, becoming the first
Bell Operating Company to have 100% digital switching
Name changes
In 1994,
Bell Atlantic standardized all of its
Bell Operating Company names, resulting in C&P Telephone of West Virginia being renamed Bell Atlantic - West Virginia, Inc. In 2000, upon its purchase of
GTE, Bell Atlantic became
Verizon Communications, resulting in the new name Verizon West Virginia, Inc.
Sale to Frontier
On July 1, 2010, Verizon spun off New Communications Holdings, Inc. and its holding company
New Communications ILEC Holdings to Verizon shareholders, which then merged with Frontier Communications. Included in the sale was Verizon West Virginia, among other select Verizon landline properties, which became Frontier West Virginia, Inc. The company operates separately from
Citizens Telecommunications Company of West Virginia, the existing Frontier provider in the state.
Even though
Frontier Communications is not a
Baby Bell, the
FCC determined that Frontier West Virginia is still bound by laws dating to its time as C&P Telephone of West Virginia; therefore, it is still responsible to uphold obligations expected of
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 ...
outlined in the
Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Unique
Frontier West Virginia was the first Bell Operating Company to have been completely divested by a
Baby Bell and sold to a non-Baby Bell. Some historically Bell local access lines have been sold to non-Baby Bells over the years by
BellSouth,
US West, and
Verizon; however, the
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 ...
from which those exchanges were split have been retained by the Baby Bells.
AT&T announced on December 17, 2013 that it plans to sell
Southern New England Telephone to
Frontier Communications.
Although SNET is not legally defined as a
Bell Operating Company since it was not majority-owned by the original
AT&T, it is an original member of the Bell System and now shares a common affiliation with Frontier West Virginia (via ownership by Frontier) for the first time since 1983.
See also
*
C&P Telephone
*
Citizens Telecommunications Company of West Virginia
References
{{Bell System
Frontier Communications
Bell System
Telecommunications companies of the United States
History of telecommunications in the United States
Telecommunications companies established in 1917
Communications in West Virginia
1917 establishments in West Virginia