Pacific Telesis
 |
|
| Private (subsidiary of AT&T Inc.) | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Fate | Merged |
| Predecessor | American Telephone and Telegraph Company |
| Successor | AT&T Teleholdings |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Defunct | 2006 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA, United States |
|
Key people
|
Chuck Smith, former CEO Ray Wilkins, former CEO |
| Products | Telephone, Internet, Television |
| Parent |
AT&T (1983) SBC/AT&T (1997-2006) |
Pacific Telesis Group was one of the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies, sometimes also referred to as "RBOCs" or "Baby Bells", created in 1983 in preparation of the breakup of AT&T as a holding company for Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, Pacific Telesis International and several other non-regulated companies including PacTel Mobile Services and PacTel InfoSystems. It was acquired by SBC Communications in 1997.
Pacific Telesis Group was headquartered in San Francisco and incorporated in Nevada.
Pacific Telesis is more commonly known as "PacTel." Prior to the January 1, 1984, breakup of the Bell System, the corporate name of its principal subsidiary Pacific Bell was The Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company, which had also been referred to as "PacTel." After the corporate name change, Pacific Bell was commonly known as "PacBell."
The red and white star trademarked logo was referred to by company employees as the "splat" or more formally as the "access symbol" after the similar star key on a telephone keypad.
Pacific Telesis licensed rights to its name and the Bell name to Vodavi, who sold consumer telephones under the "PacTel" name. Vodavi manufactured PacTel telephones in South Korea to "Bell Specifications".
Pacific Telesis later licensed the Pacific Bell name to Thomson Consumer Electronics, who also produced telephone equipment for GE.
The cellular and paging unit of Pacific Telesis, PacTel Cellular, was spun off in 1994 into a new company called AirTouch Communications (AirTouch), leaving Pacific Telesis with only the landline telephone company. Senior Pacific Telesis management moved to the new company, thus leaving a new corporate culture to run the old Pacific Telesis. In 1999, Airtouch merged with Britain's Vodafone Group Plc to become Vodafone Airtouch PLC. In 2000, its U.S. wireless assets were merged with those of Bell Atlantic Corp. to form the joint venture Verizon Wireless.
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Wikipedia