AT&T

Type:	Public
Industry:	Telecommunications
Founded:	1876
Founder(s):	Alexander Graham Bell
Headquarters:	Whiteacre Tower Dallas, Texas
Country:	USA
Employees:	258,870 Employees as of July 2011
Revenue:	$ 113,239.0 billion as of 2010
Website:	ATT.com
LinkedIn:	AT&T
Key People
Randall L. Stephenson, Chairman, CEO & Pres. John Stankey, CEO of AT&T Business Solution Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility & Co. D. Wayne Watts, Senior Executive VP and General Counsel James W. Cicconi, Senior Executive VP of External and Legislative Affairs

AT&T is an American multinational telecommunications company. It is considered the 7th largest non-oil corporation in the United States in terms of revenue in 2010, 14th largest in market value and it was ranked by Fortune Magazine as one of the 50 most admired companies. The company's headquarter is located in Whiteacre Tower Dallas, Texas.

History

Invention of the Telephone

The history of AT&T can be traced back during the time when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. In 1875, Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders financially supported Alexander Graham Bell's in inventing the first telephone. On July 1, 1875, Bell was able to transmit speech sounds through electricity however, the words can't be understood. Bell drafted a patent application and specification for his invention and labeled it as "improvement in telegraphy." He delayed his patent application because of a promise made to another investor named George Brown that he will not file a U.S. patent until a patent is applied in Britain. However, Gardiner Hubbard filed the patent application to the United States Patent Office without Bell’s knowledge on February 14, 1876. Bell received his first patent no. 174, 465 on March 10 on that same year. Bell continued experimenting on his device. On March 10, 1876, he used his latest design, a liquid transmitter hooked to an electric circuit in transmitting the first spoken words to his assistant Thomas Watson. At his end, Watson heard clearly Bell’s statement, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want you.” The first telephone was invented and subsequently on January 30, 1877 Bell’s second patent no. 186, 787 was issued to him by the U.S. Patent Office.

American Bell Telephone Company

On July 9, 1877, Bell, Hubbard and Sanders established the Bell Telephone Company. The management of the company was primarily handled by Hubbard because Bell was not interested in becoming a businessman. Bell Telephone Company acquired its first license to operate a telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut in 1878. Hubbard hired Theodore Vail as the new General Manager of the Bell Telephone Company in the midst of 1878. Vail was responsible in creating the Bell System, the world's biggest telecommunications monopoly. In 1880, Bell Telephone Company was incorporated in Massachusetts as American Bell Telephone Company. In 1882, American Bell Telephone Company purchased majority shares of the Western Electric Company which became its primary supplier for telephone equipment.

The Establishment of American Telephone and Telegraphic (AT&T) Company

On March 3, 1885, American Bell Telephone Company incorporated its fully-owned subsidiary, the American Telephone and Telegraphic Company known today as AT&T to operate long distance communication. The primary objective of AT&T since its establishment is to connect every town or city in the State of New York as well as every town and city from Canada, Mexico and all other countries around the world. In 1892, AT&T opened its first long distance telecommunication service between Chicago to New York. The rate was $ 9 for 5 minutes. In 1894, Bells second patent expired and the competition in telephone communication business began. In 1899, AT&T became the parent company of the Bell System after acquiring all the assets of the American Bell Telephone Company. In 1915, the San Francisco long distance communication line became operational.

The Bell System

The Bell System was composed of the American Telephone & Telegraph company also known as (Ma Bell), 22 companies known as baby bells provide telephone exchange services and equipment within the United States, Bell Laboratories, Inc., a research and development laboratory and the Western Electric Company as the manufacturing arm of the bell system.

Early International Expansion

AT&T started to expand internationally by supplying equipment to other telephone companies through its manufacturing subsidiary, the Western Electric Company and its affiliates around the world. By 1914, AT&T's manufacturing subsidiary established locations in Antwerp, London, Berlin, Milan, Paris, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Budapest, Tokyo, Montreal, Buenos Aires, and Sydney. The new AT&T president Walter Gifford gave up the company's manufacturing business including its international locations except Canada and pursued the company's objective to provide a universal telephone service in the United States beginning in 1925. The company also established its research and development subsidiary, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. By 1927, AT&T successfully launched its first trans-atlantic telephone service from US to London using radio which cost $75 while the trans-pacific telephone service between US to Japan was realized in 1934 at $39 for the first three minutes respectively. Both international telephone services can only accommodate one call at a time. The company's TAT-1, the first trans-atlantic telephone cable was launched in 1956. It has the capacity to accommodate 12 calls at a time and price was set at $12 for the first three minutes and subsequently in 1964, the first submarine telephone cable TPC-1 was inaugurated. In 1965, the world's first electronic switch was installed. The national emergency call number 911 was also introduced during that year. During the 1970s, the international long distance call customer dialing was introduced to the public, AT&T's network became computerized and had the initial capacity to handle a high volume of calls to as much as 350,000 per hour.Since then, AT&T continued to expand its telecommunications service globally.