Bell System
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The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, that dominated the telephone services industry
1912 Bell System advertisement promoting its slogan for universal service
195 Broadway, AT&T headquarters for most of the 20th century
The Spirit of Communication as used on the Bell System's directories in the 1930s and 1940s
Manhole cover with Bell System logo
Breakup of the Bell System
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The Bell System held a virtual monopoly over telephone infrastructure in the United States from around the early 20th century until January 8, 1982. It consisted of the parent American Telephone & Tel
Bell System
…Bell"), as it held a vertical monopoly over telecommunication products and services in most areas of the United States and Canada. At the time of the breakup of the Bell System in the early 1980s, it had assets of $150 billion (equivalent to $460 billion in 2025) and employed over one million people. Since the 1910s, American…
A Verizon payphone with the Bell logo