Southern New England Telecommunications Corporation (SNET) started operations in 1986 as the holding company for the Southern New England Telephone Company, the dominant local phone carrier in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, which had been a minority holding 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 ...

until February 1986, when AT&T sold its 23% ownership. SNET then became its own company, operating a telecommunications sales division, Sonecor Systems Division, which began operations on January 1, 1983, and sold equipment in competition with AT&T before 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 ...

divestiture. SNET also operated SNET America, which sold long-distance services to Southern New England Telephone customers within Connecticut. Under threats of a hostile takeover, Southern New England Telephone underwent a restructuring in 1986, creating Southern New England Telecommunications as the holding company of SNET and its related businesses. Southern New England Telecommunications was acquired by

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 ...

in 1998. SNET Corporation was merged into AT&T Teleholdings, formerly

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

, in 2006 and ceased to exist.

Sale of former assets

On December 17, 2013,

announced plans to sell the former subsidiaries of SNET, The Southern New England Telephone Company and long-distance subsidiary SNET America, to

Frontier Communications Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. is an American telecommunications company. Known as Citizens Utilities Company until 2000, Citizens Communications Company until 2008, and Frontier Communications Corporation until 2020, as a communications pr ...

for $2 billion. The transaction closed on October 25, 2014.

References

* Benson, Jr., Reuel A., ''The First Century of the Telephone in Connecticut.'' Southern New England Telephone, New Haven, Connecticut, 1978. * White, James A., and Paul Ingrassia. "AT&T Break-up Gives Two Mavericks an Opportunity to Compete in New Fields." ''Wall Street Journal'', April 10, 1982. * "The Brassiest Bell Company." ''Business Week'', March 14, 1983. * Sanger, Elizabeth, "Eat Well or Sleep Well?" ''Barron's'', October 10, 1983. {{AT&T Former AT&T subsidiaries Communications in Connecticut Telecommunications companies established in 1986 Telecommunications companies disestablished in 2006 2006 disestablishments in Connecticut 1986 establishments in Connecticut Defunct companies based in Connecticut Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States Companies based in New Haven, Connecticut

Sale of former assets

References

Further reading