BellSouth

BellSouth, LLC
AT&T South
Company typeSubsidiary
NYSE: BLS
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded1983 (1983)
Defunct2006 (2006)
FateAcquired by AT&T Inc.
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Key people
F. Duane Ackerman, Chairman and CEO
ProductsTelephone, Internet, Television
Number of employees
63,000
ParentAT&T Corporation (1983)
AT&T Inc.[1][2] (2006)
SubsidiariesBellSouth Telecommunications

BellSouth, LLC (stylized as BELLSOUTH and formerly known as BellSouth Corporation) was an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after the U.S. Department of Justice forced the American Telephone & Telegraph Company to divest itself of its regional telephone companies on January 1, 1984.

In a merger announced on March 5, 2006, and executed on December 29, 2006, AT&T Inc. (originally SBC Communications) acquired BellSouth for approximately $86 billion (1.325 shares of AT&T for each share of BellSouth).[3] The merger also consolidated ownership of Cingular Wireless and Yellowpages.com, both of which were joint ventures between BellSouth and AT&T.[4] With the merger completed, wireless services previously offered by Cingular Wireless were then offered under the AT&T name, and BellSouth Telecommunications (a subsidiary of a Bell Operating Company) began doing business as AT&T Southeast.[4]

The company became known as BellSouth, LLC on June 26, 2015.[5]

BellSouth was the last of the Regional Bell Operating Companies to keep its original corporate name after the 1984 AT&T breakup, as well as the last one to retain the Bell logo as part of its main corporate identity.

BellSouth also operated in Latin America in Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. BellSouth operated in New Zealand under the name of BellSouth New Zealand Limited from 1993 until 1998 when it was acquired by Vodafone to become Vodafone New Zealand.[6] It competed against Telecom New Zealand. Its operations in Australia were under the name of BellSouth Australia Pty Limited. All of Bellsouth's operations in Latin America were acquired by Telefonica in late 2004 for nearly $5.85 billion, and became Movistar.[7][8]

  1. ^ "BellSouth Corporation Company Profile – Company Information". louisville.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2008-09-08. [dead link]
  2. ^ "BellSouth Corporation Profile". smartbrief.com. Retrieved 2008-09-08.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Atossa Abrahamian (2009-02-09). "Reuters.com". Today.reuters.com. Retrieved 2012-05-16.[dead link]
  4. ^ a b "AT&T Press Release Headlines & News from AT&T". www.att.com. Retrieved 2017-12-23.
  5. ^ "BellSouth. Информация об эмитенте. (LEI 549300K521AGBDAYHX03). Новости и кредитные рейтинги. Таблицы с бухгалтерской и финансовой отчетностью". Cbonds. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  6. ^ "Vodafone acquires BellSouth NZ". Archived from the original on 2015-04-29.
  7. ^ "Telefonica Moviles Completes the Acquisition of 100% of Bellsouth's Mobile Operators in Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama". businesswire.com. 2004-10-14.
  8. ^ "BNamericas - TEM: 8 of 10 BellSouth acquisitions complete". BNamericas.com. Retrieved 2023-02-19.

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