- Houston Cellular
Infobox Company
company_name = Houston Cellular Telephone Company, L.P.
company_
vector_
company_type = Holding ofAT&T Mobility
genre =
foundation =1984
founder =
location_city = Houston, TX
location_country = USA
location =
origins =
key_people =
area_served = Southeast Texas
industry = Telecommunications
products =
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
parent =AT&T Mobility
subsid =
owner =
company_slogan = There's Nothing You Can't Do
homepage =
footnotes =Houston Cellular was a Houston-based
cell phone company which providedAMPS andD-AMPS (TDMA) service in the Greater Houston area. It was formed in 1983 and was operated as a partnership between LIN Broadcasting Corp.,Mobile Communication Corp. of America and BellSouth Co. cite journal|title=Mobile telephones tapping new markets|journal=Houston Chronicle|date=1987-04-19|first=John|last=Barnett|coauthors=|volume=|issue=|pages=1|id= |url=http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1987_456922|format=|accessdate=2007-09-03 ] Through a series of acquisitions and mergers, within 10 years, the company consisted of a 2 way parnership betweenBellSouth andAT&T Wireless , the partnership was also known as BellSouth Mobility, LLC. Houston Cellular began providing service in May 1986.Houston Cellular was formed as a result of the October
1983 Federal Communications Commission 's ruling that set aside sufficient frequencies for the operation of two cellular systems in each metropolitan area (this ruling was expanded in the early 1990's with the advent of the 800 and 1900 MHz protcols a.k.a PCS).Fact|date=April 2008 The ruling reserved one system for application by local phone companies. In Houston, the competing, non-local company service was applied byGTE Mobilnet.In June,
2000 ,GTE merged withBell Atlantic to formVerizon Wireless . At that timeAT&T Wireless sold its 55% stake in Houston Cellular toBellSouth .AT&T Wireless then bought 20 MHz of theCDMA spectrum owned by the outgoingPrimeCo (which was swallowed in the formation ofVerizon Wireless ).AT&T Wireless used this purchase of frequencies to directly compete in the Houston market withD-AMPS (TDMA) service. Additionally,Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems , a division of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company was also partnered withGTE . That partnership was dissolved.In
2001 ,BellSouth partnered withSouthwestern Bell Mobile Systems . This partnership renamed the division from BellSouth Mobility, LLC to Cingular Wireless, LLC. It also transformed Houston Cellular intoCingular Wireless .In
2006 , the parent company ofSouthwestern Bell Mobile Systems , SBC Communications, acquiredBellSouth . This eventually led to the renaming of Cingular Wireless, LLC to AT&T Mobility, LLC.It exists today as Houston Cellular Telephone Company, L.P. d/b/a AT&T Mobility, LLC.
The service is now branded as "Wireless from AT&T, formerly Cingular Wireless", or "Wireless from AT&T", or sometimes simply "AT&T".
References
External links
* [http://www.bellsouth.com/wireless/ BellSouth Mobility]
* [http://www.bellsystemmemorial.org/ Bell System Memorial]
* [http://www.swbfreedomphone.com/ Southwestern Bell Freedom Phone]
* [http://www.att.com/ AT&T corporate website]
* [http://www.wireless.att.com/ AT&T Mobility]
* [http://www.attcenter.com/ AT&T Center] (formerly SBC Center) in San Antonio
* [http://www.SouthernLitigation.com Legal Battle with BellSouth over Domain Names: U.S. Supreme Court Case 05-718 Reuben Norman, Petitioner v. BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation]
* [http://fi.edu/case_files/att/ AT&T] History and science resources at The Franklin Institute's Case Files online exhibit
* [http://www.att.com/Common/attrev1/331012_timeline_evolution16.pdf Brand evolution of AT&T companies]
* [http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1999/nrc9077a.html Press Release announcing FCC Approval of SBC-Ameritech merger] (1999 -10-06 )
* [http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=t Stock Quote from Yahoo!]
* [http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jul05/1571 July 2005 IEEE Article]
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/10/10103.html Yahoo! — AT&T Corp. Company Profile]
* [http://seekingalpha.com/transcripts/for/t ATT's most recent conference call transcripts]
* [http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cjv14n2-6.html "Unnatural Monopoly: Critical Moments in the Development of the Bell System Monopoly"] by Adam D. Thierer
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/230831.stm "AT&T buys IBM's Global Network"] , BBC News, December 8, 1998
* [http://news.com.com/SBC+closes+AT38T+acquisition/2100-1036_3-5961206.html "SBC closes AT&T acquisition"] , CNet News, November 18, 2005
* [http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=21906 "SBC launches 'new' AT&T"] , AT&T archive, November 18, 2005
* [http://news.com.com/AT38T+to+buy+BellSouth+for+67+billion/2100-1037_3-6046081.html "AT&T to buy BellSouth for $67 billion"] , "CNet News", March 5, 2006
* [http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/29/news/companies/att_bellsouth.reut/index.htm?postversion=2006122917 "AT&T gets final approval to acquire BellSouth] , "CNNMoney", December 29, 2006
* [http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=22860 "AT&T and BellSouth Join to Create a Premier Global Communications Company"] , "AT&T News Room", December 29, 2006
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/102/.html Yahoo! - AT&T Mobility LLC Company Profile]
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