Illinois Bell

Illinois Bell Telephone Company, LLC is the

Bell Operating Company 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 ...

serving

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

. It is owned 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 tel ...

through

AT&T Teleholdings AT&T Teleholdings, Inc., formerly known as Ameritech Corporation (and before that American Information Technologies Corporation), is an American telecommunications company that arose out of the 1984 AT&T divestiture. Ameritech was one of the se ...

, formerly

Ameritech AT&T Teleholdings, Inc., formerly known as Ameritech Corporation (and before that American Information Technologies Corporation), is an American telecommunications company that arose out of the 1984 AT&T divestiture. Ameritech was one of the se ...

. Their headquarters are at 225 West Randolph St.,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, IL. After the 1984

Bell System Divestiture The breakup of the Bell System was mandated on January 8, 1982, by an agreed consent decree providing that AT&T Corporation would, as had been initially proposed by AT&T, relinquish control of the Bell Operating Companies, which had provided loc ...

, Illinois Bell became a part of

, one of the 7 original

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 ...

. The Illinois Bell name continued to be used until January 1993, when Ameritech dropped all of their individual Bell Operating Company names in favor of using their corporate name, Ameritech, for marketing purposes. Illinois Bell started doing business as Ameritech Illinois. Illinois Bell, in 1971, became the first ever telephone company to offer

Call waiting Call waiting is a telephone service where a subscriber can accept a second incoming telephone call by placing an in-progress call on hold—and may also switch between calls. With some providers it can be combined with additional features such as ...

Three-way calling In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexua ...

Speed Calling Speed calling service allows telephone subscribers to assign one or two digit speed calling codes, by dialing a change speed calling list access code, a feature code, and a new telephone number. Thereafter, the subscribers need only use the ass ...

, and

Call forwarding Call forwarding, or call diversion, is a telephony feature of all telephone switching systems which redirects a telephone call to another destination, which may be, for example, a mobile or another telephone number where the desired called party is ...

, all popular local exchange carrier telephone service options to this day. In 1997, Illinois Bell acquired lines in the Chicago metro area from Central Telephone Company of Illinois, a Sprint company. In 1998, Ameritech announced intentions to merge with SBC, another former

RBOC 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, 198 ...

. Though the merger wasn't well received at first, it was allowed to occur with some conditions. The two companies were officially merged as of October 8, 1999. The Ameritech name continued to be used until 2002, despite the merger. In 2001, the company started doing business as SBC Ameritech Illinois. In 2002, SBC dropped the Ameritech name in favor of "SBC" as a national brand. On January 1, 2003, Illinois Bell, for regulatory business, was renamed Illinois Bell Telephone Company

d/b/a A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

SBC Illinois. Illinois Bell's trade name was changed once again in 2006, following conclusion of

SBC Communications The history of AT&T dates back to the invention of the telephone. The Bell Telephone Company was established in 1877 by Alexander Graham Bell, who obtained the first US patent for the telephone, and his father-in-law, Gardiner Greene Hubbard. Bell ...

' purchase of

, to Illinois Bell Telephone Company

AT&T Illinois. AT&T subsidiaries Bell System Telecommunications companies of the United States Companies based in Chicago Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States Telecommunications companies established in 1920 American companies established in 1920 1920 establishments in Illinois {{US-telecom-company-stub