What was AT&T's old name?

Written by Editorial Team | Last Updated: August 2026

The history of AT&T originates with the invention of the telephone and the subsequent creation of the Bell Telephone Company, which was established in 1877 by Alexander Graham Bell and his associates to commercialize the groundbreaking communication technology. In 1885, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company was officially incorporated as a subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company to build and operate the nation's first long-distance telephone network. Over subsequent decades, through corporate restructuring and state incorporation laws, the enterprise transferred assets and became the primary parent corporation of the Bell System. Decades later, following the massive corporate divestitures and restructuring of the telecommunications industry, a regional Bell operating company known as Southwestern Bell Corporation—which later rebranded as SBC Communications—grew aggressively through major acquisitions before ultimately purchasing AT&T Corp. in 2005 and adopting the iconic AT&T name for the combined global enterprise.

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