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Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, LLC is a wholly owned
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
of
AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
. It does business as other d.b.a. names in its operating region, which includes
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
,
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
,
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, and portions of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. The company is currently headquartered in
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
at One AT&T Plaza.


History

Southwestern Bell Telephone traces its roots to The Missouri and Kansas Telephone Company, which was founded in 1882. It was consolidated under a single management unit of the
Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the AT&T Corporation, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America fo ...
with Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company of
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
and
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
, Pioneer Telephone and Telegraph Company of
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, and The Bell Telephone Company of Missouri on March 1, 1912. These companies comprised the "Southwestern System" of the
Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the AT&T Corporation, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America fo ...
. The latter three companies were legally merged into Missouri and Kansas Telephone Company in 1917, which was renamed Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. The company was often considered the first step of the AT&T corporate "ladder" before the 1984 breakup of that company. While part of the
Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the AT&T Corporation, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America fo ...
, it was at times the biggest
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 100 years f ...
of AT&T's 22 local telephone companies. Southwestern Bell continued to grow in size when it absorbed several smaller telephone companies. In 1950, the company absorbed the operations of Southeast Missouri Telephone Company, which had been formerly named Cape Girardeau Bell Telephone Company. In 1952, the company absorbed the operations of the Southwest Telephone Company, which served
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
, and
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
. In 1953, it absorbed the Ozark Central Telephone Company. Southwestern Bell also provides service to
Kaskaskia The Kaskaskia were a historical Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in ...
and McClure,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
.


Southwestern Bell Corporation

On January 1, 1984, as part of the breakup of AT&T, Southwestern Bell Telephone became the namesake and leading subsidiary of the new
Regional Bell Operating Company A Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) was a corporate entity created as result of the antitrust lawsuit by the United States Department of Justice against the Western Electric Company and American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 194 ...
, Southwestern Bell Corporation. SBC was the smallest of all of the seven "
Baby Bells A Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) was a corporate entity created as result of the antitrust lawsuit by the United States Department of Justice against the Western Electric Company and American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 194 ...
", as it only held one local operating company. The architect of divestiture for Southwestern Bell was Robert G. Pope. He later became the Vice-Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Financial Officer of SBC while remaining the President and CEO of the several subsidiaries including Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. Although "Southwestern Bell" generally referred to the operations of the entire Baby Bell, in 1995, SBC decided to change its corporate name to SBC Communications in order to reposition itself as a national telecommunications company. Southwestern Bell Telephone underwent a branding overhaul and adopted the slogan, "Your friendly neighborhood global telecommunications company." The slogan was later shortened to, "Friendly. Neighborhood. Global."


Reincorporation

On December 30, 2001, the original Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, incorporated in
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
, ceased to exist when it was merged into Southwestern Bell Texas, Inc., a separate operating company incorporated in Texas. Southwestern Bell Texas then converted itself into a
limited partnership A limited partnership (LP) is a type of partnership with general partners, who have a right to manage the business, and limited partners, who have no right to manage the business but have only limited liability for its debts. Limited partnership ...
and renamed itself Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P., incorporated in
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. This company ceased to exist on June 29, 2007, when it was merged into SWBT Inc., incorporated in Missouri, which was founded just 8 days prior. At that point, SWBT Inc. took the formerly dormant name Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and Southwestern Bell again became a resident company in Missouri. In 2012, Southwestern Bell relocated its state of incorporation from Missouri to
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
.Missouri Secretary of State
/ref>


Branding

From its name change in 1917 until 2001, SWBT was simply branded as Southwestern Bell. Starting in 1999, SBC Communications began branding its operating companies as part of the "SBC Global Network," with the name enclosed in a circle with the Pacific Telesis "access" mark to the logos of its divisions (Ameritech, Nevada Bell, Pacific Bell, SNET, Southwestern Bell). In 2000, the Bell logo was dropped from the mark of Southwestern Bell. In 2001, SBC standardized its operating company branding logos, and placed the SBC corporate logo toward the northwest of the name "Southwestern Bell", and the branding for SWBT became SBC Southwestern Bell. The Southwestern Bell brand vanished in late 2002 when SBC dropped the names of all its operating companies to use "SBC" as a national brand. Since d.b.a. names weren't approved before publishing deadlines for telephone directories distributed in December 2002 and January 2003, the Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. name remained on telephone directories issued in December 2002 and January 2003. From late 2002 to 2005, Southwestern Bell conducted business under the following names: SBC Arkansas, SBC Kansas, SBC Missouri, SBC Oklahoma, SBC Southwest, and SBC Texas.
SBC Communications AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the ...
bought AT&T Corp. on November 18, 2005, and changed its name to AT&T Inc. Shortly afterwards, on January 15, 2006, AT&T companies were given new d.b.a names. As a result, officially, Southwestern Bell began conducting business under the following names: AT&T Arkansas, AT&T Kansas, AT&T Missouri, AT&T Oklahoma, and AT&T Texas. The regional d.b.a. name is now AT&T Southwest. The legal name remains Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.


References

{{Bell_System AT&T subsidiaries Bell System Telecommunications companies of the United States Companies based in Dallas Communications in Arkansas Communications in Kansas Communications in Missouri Communications in Oklahoma Communications in Texas Telecommunications companies established in 1882 1882 establishments in Missouri