Ameritech

Ameritech was created as a holding company that owned five former Bell System companies in the Midwest. Under its umbrella were:

• Illinois Bell Telephone Company
• Indiana Bell Telephone Company, Inc.
• Michigan Bell Telephone Company
• Ohio Bell Telephone Company
• Wisconsin Bell, Inc.

For Ameritech's first nine years, it maintained these Bell brands inherited from the Bell System—though public displays of the Bell companies' names were often captioned "An Ameritech Company". In January 1993, Ameritech officially retired the Bell brands and marketed itself with solely the Ameritech name across all five states in its territory. It added "d/b/a Ameritech (state)" to the names of its Bells to communicate brand unity.

Ameritech also owned Ameritech Cellular, a wireless company that operated cellular networks in many of the major cities of these states. Ameritech Cellular was previously called Ameritech Mobile Communications. Ameritech also provided cable television service in select areas as part of the Americast venture with other phone companies during the 1990s.

Ameritech Advanced Data Services (AADS) Network Access Point (NAP) was one of the original four National Science Foundation exchange points in the United States starting in 1994. AADS was a Tier 1 network Internet Exchange Point in Chicago, Illinois that provided service to higher education and research networks via a program called Star TAP{{cite web|title=About STAR TAP|url=http://www.startap.net/startap/ABOUT/|website=Startap.net|publisher=StartTap|access-date=18 September 2014|ref=StarTap}} and commercial networks.{{cite web|last1=Haeuser |first1=Tony |title=Ameritech Advanced Data Services Product Description |url=https://www.pch.net/peering/www.aads.net/new_cust_desc_info.html |website=PCH.Net |publisher=AADS |access-date=18 September 2014 |ref=new_cust_desc_info |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229041354/http://www.pch.net/peering/www.aads.net/new_cust_desc_info.html |archive-date=29 February 2012 }} After the merger with SBC, AADS did business as the SBC Network Access Point or SBC/AADS NAP.

File:Ameritech 1984 logo.svg

File:Ameritech Logo - 1993.svg

Prior to its merger with SBC Communications, Ameritech's corporate headquarters were in a leased space above the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on floors 34 through 39 of 30 S Wacker Dr, Chicago. Further corporate offices were located at 225 W Randolph St, Chicago (formerly "The Illinois Bell Building") and 2000 W. Ameritech Center Drive, Hoffman Estates) ("The Ameritech Center").{{cite book|url=|title=FaxUSA|publisher=Omnigraphics|year=1997|access-date=April 27, 2025|via=Google Books}} It was traded on the NYSE under the "AIT" symbol.

File:Ameritech & SBC logo - 1999.svg

In May 1998, Ameritech announced its intent to merge with SBC Communications for $62 billion.{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1998/05/11/UPI-Focus-SBC-buys-Ameritech-for-62-billion/7664894859200/|title=SBC buys Ameritech for $62 billion|work=United Press International|date=May 11, 1998|access-date=April 27, 2025}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/12/business/telephone-giant-the-deal-62-billion-deal-to-shift-balance-in-phone-industry.html|title=TELEPHONE GIANT: THE DEAL; $62 BILLION DEAL TO SHIFT BALANCE IN PHONE INDUSTRY|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 12, 1998|access-date=April 27, 2025}}{{cite news|url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1998/05/12/sbc-ameritech-join-in-61-billion-deal/62281845007/|title=SBC, Ameritech Join in $61 Billlion Deal|newspaper=The Oklahoman|date=May 12, 1998|access-date=April 27, 2025}}{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/1998/05/11/deals/sbcopp/|title=Phone deal: Good for Public?|website=CNNMoney|date=May 11, 1998|access-date=April 27, 2025}} This brought great concern to Federal and state regulators, who in turn did not approve the merger until SBC and Ameritech agreed to several conditions to ensure adequate competition.{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1999/nrcc9077.html|title=FCC Approves SBC-Ameritech Merger Subject to Competition-Enhancing Conditions}} Most notably, regulators required:

• that the merged company offer local phone service in thirty markets outside of its home territory within thirty months of the merger (i.e. by April 2002) or pay a $1.18B penalty
• and that Ameritech Cellular assets in Chicago be sold to GTE in 1999, which later merged with fellow RBOC Bell Atlantic to form Verizon in June 2000.{{cite news|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-apr-06-fi-24546-story.html|title=GTE Buying Portion of Ameritech Cellular Business|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=April 6, 1999|access-date=April 27, 2025}}{{cite press release|url=https://www.verizon.com/about/news/press-releases/gte-acquire-ameritech-wireless-assets-midwest|title=GTE to Acquire Ameritech Wireless Assets in the Midwest|publisher=GTE|date=April 5, 1999|access-date=April 27, 2025|via=Verizon}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gte-to-buy-ameritech-assets/|title=GTE to Buy Ameritech Assets|website=CBS News|date=April 5, 1999|access-date=April 27, 2025}} Since SBC already had a majority stake in a large mobile provider (Cellular One), the merged company, if it were to operate Ameritech Cellular and Cellular One both in the same market, would have wielded too much market power.

On October 6, 1999, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the merger between SBC and Ameritech, then the two companies officially merged on October 8, 1999.{{cite news|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-07-fi-19657-story.html|title=SBC's $81 Billion Purchase of Ameritech Wins FCC OK|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 7, 1999|access-date=April 27, 2025}} Prior to the merger, Ameritech's Chairman and CEO was Richard Notebaert, who later (in 2002) became CEO of competitor Qwest.{{cite web|url=https://www.aon.com/en/about/leadership-and-governance/richard-notebaert-profile|title=Richard C. Notebaert Biography|website=Aon|access-date=April 27, 2025}}{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/10/11/ameritech-ceo-to-step-down/|title=AMERITECH CEO TO STEP DOWN|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 11, 1999|access-date=April 27, 2025}}

File:SBC Communications logo.svg

On January 15, 2003, SBC Communications changed its d.b.a. names, changed the legal name of Ameritech Corp. to SBC Teleholdings, Inc., which began doing business as SBC Midwest.{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2002/12/11/sbc-hangs-up-on-ameritech-name/|title=SBC hangs up on Ameritech name|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=December 11, 2002|access-date=April 27, 2025}} On January 15, 2006, d.b.a names were again changed to align with SBC's assumption of the AT&T brand identity following its acquisition of AT&T Corp. the previous year, and Ameritech was again renamed, becoming AT&T Teleholdings, Inc.{{cite web |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=169415 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519190949/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=169415 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 19, 2011 |title=AT&T Teleholdings, Inc.: Private Company Information - BusinessWeek |access-date=2008-09-08}} and began doing business as AT&T Midwest.

Several Ameritech subsidiaries remain legally named "Ameritech", such as Ameritech Advanced Services; however, they do business as "AT&T Advanced Solutions".

In 2006, the holding companies Pacific Telesis and Southern New England Telecommunications were legally merged into AT&T Teleholdings. The company then became a holding company for Pacific Bell (and its subsidiary Nevada Bell) and Southern New England Telephone.

{{unreferenced section|date=January 2020}}

The Ameritech name was used in the storyline of the U.S. television miniseries Amerika to refer to one of the "sovereign" autonomous regions—Ameritech's regional operating area, the Great Lakes area of North America—that the former United States was divided into in result of the fictional Soviet occupation that is the base premise of the miniseries' plot.

• Ameritech Library Services (Dynix)

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070305121217/http://www.porticus.org/bell/table_of_changes.html Bell System Memorial's RBOC page]
• [https://www.thisisarecording.com/Ameritech.html Archive of Ameritech Intercept Messages]
• [http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/1999/nrcc9077.html FCC APPROVES SBC-AMERITECH MERGER SUBJECT TO COMPETITION-ENHANCING CONDITIONS] (FCC decree allowing merger)
• [http://www.bell.com RBOCs] (Regional Bell Operating Company)

{{AT&T Spinoffs}}

{{AT&T}}

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Category:Bell System

Category:AT&T subsidiaries

Category:History of Chicago

Category:Companies based in Chicago

Category:1983 establishments in Illinois

Category:Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States

Category:Telecommunications companies established in 1983

Category:American companies established in 1983

Category:1999 mergers and acquisitions

Category: Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange