Alexander Graham Bell the Inventor of the Telephone

The invention of the telephone literally revolutionized communication and created an entire industry that would repeatedly be criminate of monopolistic behavior. Key events in the industry are particular below ("History of Telecommunications," 2000).

1837 - Invention of the telegraph

1876 - Alexander Graham gong invents the telephone

1876 - Edison invents the electric bulb and the phonograph

1892 - cry constitution regulation begins in Canada

1893 - Broadcasting was started in Budapest

1906 - Lee de Forest invents the vacuum tube

1910 - ICC starts to check telcos

1914 - Underground cables link Boston, NYC and Washington

1925 - Bell Telephone Laboratories founded

1930 - AT&T introduces much higher quality insulated wire

1934 - Federal Communications steering founded

1945 - AT&T lays 2000 miles of coax cable

1952 - The first database implemented on RCA Bizmac computer

1954 - Gene Amdahl developed first computer operating system

1968 - Carterfone decision permits other telephone equipment

1970 - Court permits MCI to provide long- quad services

1984 - Cellular phones enter service

1996 - Telecommunications Act deregulates telephone system

pts to regulate the telephone companies began in 1910 through efforts by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). In January 1913, the Justice segment informed the Bell System that it was close to being in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act (Farley, 2001).

By the end of the year, AT&T under the highly visionary and astute lead of Theodore Vail, agreed to rid itself of Western Union stock, buy no more independent telephone companies without government approval, and connect itself to independents via AT&T's long distance lines. This action became cognise as "The Kingsbury understanding" and ostensibly ended any plans for a complete telecommunications monopoly. In reality, the Bell System continued to grow becoming a "de-facto" monopoly within those areas it controlled (Farley, 2001).

In 1974, MCI challenged AT&T concerning what they perceived to be a monopoly over long distance services ("Telephone Industry Today," 2003). On August 24, 1982 after many age of dodging and wrangling, the Bell System was finally split isolated by the government. With this break-up, AT&T kept their long distance service, Western Electric, Bell Labs, AT&T Technologies, and AT&T Consumer Products and spun off the regional Bell Operating Companies, also known as "the Baby Bells." Divestiture was complete by the beginning of 1984 (Farley, 2001) and was administered by what has been termed the "Modified Final Judgement" d
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