The telephone played a major communications role in American history from the 1876 publication of its first patent by Alexander Graham Bell onward. In the 20th century, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) dominated the telecommunication market as the at times largest company in the world, until it was broken up and replaced by a system of competitors. Originally targeted at business users and upscale families, by the 1920s the "phone" became widely popular in the general population. Ordinary people either subscribed to telephone service themselves, or used a telephone in the neighborhood, including public pay telephones. Long-distance service was metered and much more expensive than local, flat-rate calling. Ordinary Americans contacted businesses, friends, and relatives. Business-to-business communication was important, and increasingly displaced telegrams.

An independent telephone company was a telephone company providing local service in the United States or Canada that was not part of the Bell System organized by American Telephone and Telegraph. Independent telephone companies usually operated in many rural or sparsely populated areas.