Southern Bell
| Company type | Subsidiary (former) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Predecessor | Atlanta Telephonic Exchange |
| Founded | 1879 |
| Fate | Merged and renamed BellSouth Telecommunications in 1992 |
| Headquarters | Atlanta , United States |
Area served | Southeastern United States (Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina; formerly Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee) |
| Parent | BellSouth Corporation (post-1984) |
Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company functioned as a Bell Operating Company providing telephone services across the Southeastern United States, covering states such as Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Prior to 1968, its service area also included Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, until those regions were separated to create South Central Bell. Following the breakup of the Bell System in 1984, Southern Bell became a division of BellSouth Corporation.
History
The company was initially founded in 1879 under the name Atlanta Telephonic Exchange to serve the Atlanta area. It was renamed Southern Bell in 1882.
Operations extended into Charleston and other parts of West Virginia from 1883 until 1917, after which control was transferred to the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia.
Landmark sex discrimination case
The case Weeks v. Southern Bell was a pivotal moment in employment law when Lorena Weeks contested Southern Bell’s refusal to promote her on the basis of gender, an action that violated the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Represented by Sylvia Roberts of the National Organization for Women, Weeks initially lost but succeeded on appeal in 1969. This legal victory represented the first instance where NOW effectively utilized the Civil Rights Act to challenge sex discrimination in the workplace.
Reincorporation
Originally incorporated in New York, Southern Bell underwent reincorporation in 1983 as SBT&T Co. in Georgia. The original entity merged into SBT&T Co., which subsequently assumed the Southern Bell name. Given that BellSouth—owner of Southern Bell and South Central Bell subsidiaries after AT&T’s divestiture—was headquartered in Georgia with board member Ben Bell from Nashville involved, this move aligned corporate governance with geographic location. In 1992, Southern Bell was renamed BellSouth Telecommunications following its consolidation with South Central Bell. When BellSouth Corporation was acquired by the new AT&T (formerly SBC Corporation) in 2006, BellSouth Telecommunications became part of AT&T’s local operations within the former BellSouth region, operating as AT&T Southeast.
Southern Bell maintained its headquarters at Atlanta’s Tower Square building; however, most administrative functions have since relocated to AT&T’s main offices in Dallas. Despite these changes, Downtown Atlanta’s telephone exchange continues to operate from the historic Art Deco Southern Bell Telephone Company Building.