Michigan Bell

Michigan Bell is the subsidiary of

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 ...

serving the state of

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 the ...

. Following the

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 ...

on January 8, 1984, the company became a subsidiary of

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 ...

, the

Regional Bell operating company 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, 1982 ...

that served the

midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. Ameritech was subsequently acquired by

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 ...

, which later changed its name to

. Michigan Bell was one of the 22 Local Exchange Carriers that were part of the original AT&T

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 ...

until the 1984 divestiture, after which Michigan Bell and four other Midwestern telephone companies became part of Ameritech, the midwestern

Regional Holding Company 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 ...

. Ameritech was one of the seven original Bell Regional Holding Companies, or "Baby Bells". By the early 1990s, Ameritech phased out state specific names such as Michigan Bell in favor of using the Ameritech name for marketing purposes. After Ameritech's acquisition by SBC Communications, the former Ameritech companies were briefly marketed as SBC Ameritech, as a transition to a unified "SBC" brand name in all 13 states in which SBC then did business. When this had been accomplished, in 2005, SBC Communications acquired AT&T. The newly merged company began marketing itself throughout the United States as the "new" AT&T. Michigan Bell is still the legal entity that provides telecommunications services in Michigan under the AT&T name. It is headquartered in Detroit. AT&T subsidiaries Bell System Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States Companies based in Detroit American companies established in 1904 Telecommunications companies established in 1904 1904 establishments in Michigan {{US-telecom-company-stub