| Type | Private (Subsidiary of AT&T) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1882 |
| Headquarters | Milwaukee, WI, USA |
| Area served | Wisconsin |
| Key people | Scott VanderSanden, President |
| Products | POTS, DSL, U-Verse (FTTN) |
| Employees | 5,000 (2006) |
| Parent |
AT&T (1882-1983) |
| Website | www.att.com |
Wisconsin Bell, Inc. (known as Wisconsin Telephone Co. before 1984) is the name of the Bell Operating Company serving Wisconsin. They were a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc..
Their headquarters is at 722 North Broadway, Milwaukee, WI. After the 1984 Bell System Divestiture, Wisconsin Bell became a part of Ameritech, one of the 7 original Bell Regional Holding Companies. The Wisconsin Bell name continued to be used until January, 1993, when they dropped all of their individual Bell Operating Company names in favor of using their corporate name, Ameritech, for marketing purposes.
In 1998, Ameritech sold 19 Wisconsin Bell exchanges, primarily located in central and northern Wisconsin, to CenturyTel, now CenturyLink. Those exchanges were transferred to CenturyLink's subsidiary CenturyTel of the Midwest-Kendall.
After being held by AT&T (pre-1984), Ameritech, and SBC, as of 2005, they are now part of the "new" AT&T.
| Wisconsin Telephone Co. In 1921, Wisconsin Telephone receives its own Bell logo. The logo contains "Wisconsin Telephone Co.", along with the standard "American Telephone & Telegraph Co." This particular logo is used until 1939. |
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| Ameritech Wisconsin In 1993, Ameritech chooses to do business as one "Ameritech", and drops the names of its Bells in advertising, and comes with a new logo. This logo remains until 2001. |
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| SBC Global Network In 1999, SBC acquires Ameritech. Shortly after, SBC begins attaching "SBC Global Network" to the ends of its subsidiary logos, resulting in this logo. |
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| SBC Ameritech Wisconsin In 2001, SBC proceeds to "unify" its companies by adding the "SBC" corporate logo to the operating company logos, and begins advertising Ameritech Wisconsin as "SBC Ameritech Wisconsin". |
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| SBC Wisconsin SBC eventually drops the names of all of its Bells in late 2002, and adds the title "d/b/a SBC (name of state or region)" to the official names of its companies on January 1, 2003. Wisconsin Bell's d/b/a name becomes "SBC Wisconsin". SBC, later AT&T, retains "SBC Ameritech" on cards on its payphones, in order to better separate its operating regions. |
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| AT&T Wisconsin In 2005, SBC completed its acquisition of AT&T Corp., forming AT&T, Inc. AT&T changes the d/b/a names of its Bell Operating Companies on January 1, 2006, resulting in "AT&T Wisconsin". |
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