View source for BellSouth

{{Short description|Defunct American telecommunications company}}
{{for|the Bell Operating Company of AT&T that serves the southeastern United States|BellSouth Telecommunications}}
{{Infobox company
| image = Bellsouth Nashville 2003.JPG
| imagesize = 
| image_caption = [[AT&T Building (Nashville)|BellSouth Regional Headquarters]] in Nashville (circa 2003)
| name = BellSouth, LLC
| trade_name = AT&T South
| logo = [[File:BellSouth logo.svg|frameless|class=skin-invert]]
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| traded_as = {{NYSE was|BLS}}
| foundation = {{start date and age|1983|12|31}}
| location = [[Atlanta]], Georgia, U.S.
| industry = [[Telecommunications]]
| defunct = {{end date and age|2006|12|29}}
| fate = Acquired by [[AT&T Inc.]], and merged with [[Pacific Telesis]]
| key_people = [[F. Duane Ackerman]] (chairman and CEO)
| products = [[Telephone]], [[Internet]], [[Television]]
| num_employees = 63,000
| parent = [[AT&T Corporation]] (1983)<br>[[AT&T|AT&T Inc.]]<ref>{{cite news |url = http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louisville/gen/company.html?gcode=E662008E6B2142CD87DFC278AAD82BA5|publisher=louisville.bizjournals.com |title = BellSouth Corporation Company Profile – Company Information |access-date = 2008-09-08}} {{Dead link|date=December 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smartbrief.com/news/USTELECOM/companyData.jsp?companyId=101&lmcid=1906249& |publisher=smartbrief.com |title=BellSouth Corporation Profile |access-date=2008-09-08 |archive-date=2007-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208123918/http://smartbrief.com/news/ustelecom/companyData.jsp?companyId=101 |url-status=dead }}</ref> (2006)
| subsid = [[BellSouth Telecommunications]]
| website = {{web archive|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20000706200706/http://www.bellsouth.com/index.html|title=bellsouth.com}}
}}

'''BellSouth, LLC''' (stylized as '''''BELL'''SOUTH'' 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 company|Regional Bell Operating Companies]] after the [[United States Department of Justice|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|AT&T Inc.]] (originally SBC Communications) acquired BellSouth for approximately $86 billion (1.325 shares of AT&T for each share of BellSouth).<ref>{{cite web|author=Atossa&nbsp;Abrahamian |url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-12-30T011814Z_01_WBT006361_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-BELLSOUTH-FCC-DC.XML&WTmodLoc=Home-C4-Business-ousiv-2&from=business |title=Reuters.com |publisher=Today.reuters.com |date=2009-02-09 |access-date=2012-05-16 }}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The merger also consolidated ownership of [[Cingular Wireless]] and [[Yellowpages.com]], both of which were joint ventures between BellSouth and AT&T.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=22860|title=AT&T Press Release Headlines & News from AT&T|website=www.att.com|language=en|access-date=2017-12-23}}</ref> 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'''.<ref name=":0" />

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]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vodafone acquires BellSouth NZ|url=http://www.vodafone.co.nz/about/#history|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429063941/http://www.vodafone.co.nz/about/|archive-date=2015-04-29}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20041014005639/en/Telefonica-Moviles-Completes-Acquisition-100-Bellsouths-Mobile|title=Telefonica Moviles Completes the Acquisition of 100% of Bellsouth's Mobile Operators in Ecuador, Guatemala and Panama|date=2004-10-14|website=businesswire.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BNamericas - TEM: 8 of 10 BellSouth acquisitions complete |url=https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/tem-8-of-10-bellsouth-acquisitions-complete |access-date=2023-02-19 |website=BNamericas.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Organization and services==
As part of the breakup of the old [[AT&T]] during 1984, BellSouth was formed as the holding company for the telephone operating companies in the southern portion of the old [[Bell System]]—Atlanta-based [[Southern Bell]] and [[Birmingham, Alabama]]-based [[South Central Bell]]. The creation of BellSouth, in effect, reunited most telephone service in the Southeastern United States. Southern Bell had been the Bell System operating company for the entire Southeast until 1967, when the western portion of its service territory became South Central Bell.

BellSouth formed a shared services company, BellSouth Services, to provide centralized functions such as [[engineering]] and [[information technology]] to Southern Bell and South Central Bell. Services provided in the BellSouth operating area include telephone and [[DSL]]/[[Dial-up Internet access|Dial-up Internet]] services in the states of [[Alabama]], [[Florida]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Kentucky]], [[Louisiana]], [[Mississippi]], [[North Carolina]], [[South Carolina]], and [[Tennessee]]. [[Satellite television]] service was provided as a partnership with [[DirecTV]].  [[Cable television]] (often via [[MMDS]]) was provided in limited markets as BellSouth Entertainment (as part of the [[Americast]] venture).

In 1992, BellSouth merged South Central Bell and BellSouth Services into Southern Bell, which changed its name to [[BellSouth Telecommunications]]. This created a single operating company in the BellSouth territory, and fully reunited Southern Bell and South Central Bell. However, BellSouth continued using the Southern Bell name in the eastern portion of its territory and the South Central Bell name in the western portion until 1998, when it adopted BellSouth as the sole customer-facing brand.

The company maintained its largest operation centers in Atlanta and Birmingham.  Region-wide headquarters operations were also primarily in Atlanta and Birmingham.  Statewide operations centers were located in Birmingham, Miami, Atlanta, Louisville, New Orleans, Jackson, Charlotte, Columbia, and Nashville. BellSouth Mobility was based in Atlanta, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama.

In August 1998, BellSouth launched FastAccess DSL, their [[broadband]] service provided through a [[DSL]] connection, initially launched in the [[Atlanta]], [[Birmingham, AL|Birmingham]], [[Charlotte, NC|Charlotte]], [[Miami]]/[[Ft. Lauderdale]], [[Jacksonville, FL|Jacksonville]], [[New Orleans]] and [[Raleigh, NC|Raleigh]]/[[Durham, NC|Durham]] areas. Eventually, it became available in all of BellSouth's service area.

Toward its end, BellSouth realigned itself in two important areas, [[wireless]] and [[broadband]].  In 2001, they merged [[BellSouth Mobility]], their wireless enterprise, with [[SBC Communications|SBC]]'s wireless services, and took a 40% stake in the resulting company, [[Cingular Wireless]]. The new company provided a large percentage of BellSouth's revenue. This joint venture continued after SBC purchased the [[American Telephone & Telegraph|old AT&T]] and rebranded as [[AT&T|AT&T Inc.]] Continued increase of [[broadband]] penetration and applications in the consumer market was a key strategy to the company.  These activities were being funded in part by the sale of [[Latin America]] operations.

BellSouth became the first "Baby Bell" that did not operate [[pay phone|pay telephones]]. By 2003, BellSouth's payphone operation was discontinued because it had become too unprofitable, most likely due to the increased availability of cell phones. [[Cincinnati Bell]] has taken BellSouth's place for payphones in northern BellSouth territory; independents have set in further south. <!-- source: somewhere on http://bellsystemmemorial.com/ (User:KansasCity will add the exact source soon.) -->

BellSouth's main operating units at its end were the Communications Group, Domestic Wireless, and Advertising and Publishing. The communications group operated two wholly owned subsidiaries, [[BellSouth Telecommunications|BellSouth Telecommunications Inc. (BST)]] and [[BellSouth Long Distance|BellSouth Long Distance, Inc. (BSLD)]]. The main marketing groups for the communications group were consumer, small business, large business, and interconnection (wholesale services). The communications group provided wireline communications services, including local exchange, network access, intraLATA long-distance services, and Internet services, as well as long-distance services.

The advertising and publishing group was responsible for printing and distributing telephone books, selling advertising, and operating online electronic directories.

The BellSouth–SBC/AT&T relationship went further than just Cingular Wireless. Both companies also co-owned yellowpages.com<ref>{{cite web |title=YP.com – Yellow Pages, the new yellowpages.com |url=https://www.yellowpages.com/flower-mound-tx/mip/freedom-insurance-group-550788747}}</ref> (formerly RealPages.com and SmartPages.com).

BellSouth licensed its trademark to US Electronics, which produced telephones under the BellSouth brand. It also previously maintained a history page at bellsouth.com/servicemarks, which displayed its former and recent BellSouth logo usage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bellsouth.com:80/servicemarks/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023205619/http://www.bellsouth.com/servicemarks/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-10-23|title=BellSouth Service Marks|access-date=2021-12-15}}</ref>

[[File:AT&T Midtown Center, Atlanta.jpg|thumb|230px|[[AT&T Midtown Center]], Atlanta, AT&T Southeast headquarters.]]
[[File:AT&T City Center cropped, Birmingham, AL.jpg|thumb|230px|[[AT&T City Center]], Birmingham, Alabama, South Central Bell's former Headquarters.]]

===BellSouth stops displaying caller ID from Sprint customers===
BellSouth customers were no longer receiving [[caller ID]] information from Sprint PCS customers based on an ''[[Atlanta Business Chronicle]]'' article from December 15, 2003. Any incoming call originating from a [[Sprint Nextel|Sprint]] PCS cell phone will usually display the City, State format on the caller ID display instead of the name or business name associated with that number. Based on a 1996 agreement between Sprint and BellSouth, it is likely that this is a result of a ten-year contract. In 2003, Sprint sued BellSouth for $20 million as a result of Sprint claiming Bellsouth violated a 1996 contract by not providing Sprint caller-identification information to BellSouth customers.<ref>[http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2003/12/15/daily29.html Atlanta Business Chronicle: December 17, 2003-Sprint sues BellSouth over caller ID], atlanta.bizjournals.com</ref>

Similar caller ID "deals" have been left to the consumer to fight either with their own carrier or through government regulatory commissions for what they should have displayed on their caller ID device. In 2002, Sprint and [[SBC Communications]] could not come to an agreement on fees charged to carriers to look up the caller name information.<ref>[http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2002/10/28/story3.html ''Kansas City Business Journal'': October 25, 2002-Sprint and SBC get hung up on deal for caller ID by Charlie Anderson], bizjournals.com</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/20/AR2006052000132.html ''Washington Post'': May 21, 2006-Caller ID Doesn't Always Give a Number – to the Providers' Benefit by Don Oldenburg], washingtonpost.com</ref>

==Alleged NSA cooperation==
In 2006, ''[[USA Today]]'' published an article which erroneously claimed that three of the largest [[United States]] carriers, including BellSouth, had been supplying calling records to the [[National Security Agency]] for all international and domestic calls. This data, the article claimed, is being used to create, "the [[NSA call database|largest database ever assembled]]."<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm USA Today: May 11, 2006-NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls by Leslie Cauley], usatoday.com</ref>

On May 16, 2006, BellSouth released a retraction claiming that no contract with the NSA existed and that they had never provided information such as calling records to the NSA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/15/bellsouth.nsa/index.html |title=May 15, 2006-BellSouth denies giving records to NSA |publisher=CNN |date=2006-05-15 |access-date=2012-05-16}}</ref>

''[[USA Today]]'' posted an update on June 30, 2006, stating that:
<blockquote>
"On May 15, BellSouth said it could not categorically deny participation in the program until it had conducted a detailed investigation. BellSouth said that internal review concluded that the company did not contract with the NSA or turn over calling records."<ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-30-nsa_x.htm USA Today: June 30, 2006 – A Note to our Readers], usatoday.com</ref>
</blockquote>

==See also==
{{Portal|Companies|Telecommunications}}
*[[BellSouth Telecommunications]]
*[[AT&T Mobility#History|Cingular Wireless]]
* {{portal-inline|Telephones}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{web archive|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20000706200706/http://www.bellsouth.com/index.html|title=Official website}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090829085332/http://www.porticus.org/bell/bellopercomp-sbc.html Bell Operating Companies], porticus.org
*[https://bellsystemmemorial.com/bellopercomp-att.html Bell Operating Companies (from Bell System Memorial)]
*[http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/10/10200.html Yahoo! – BellSouth Corporation Company Profile], biz.yahoo.com
*[http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060305/at_t_bellsouth.html?.v=12 AT&T bids $67 Billion for BellSouth], biz.yahoo.com ''Yahoo! Finance'', March 5, 2006, Harry Weber

{{AT&T Spinoffs}}
{{AT&T}}
{{Telecommunications}}
{{Atlanta companies}}
{{National Medal of Arts recipients 1990s}}

[[Category:AT&T subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Bell System]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies based in Atlanta]]
[[Category:1983 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies established in 1983]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1983]]
[[Category:2006 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:2006 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category: Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange]]