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Randy D

AT&T, Cricket, LG, Sprint, T-Mobile, Net10, Verizon, V*s*ble, Xfinity, etc.

 

What are the names of some cell phone service provider companies that you remember having existed at one time but are no longer in business? 

Since the first cell phone (or mobile phone) service provider companies emerged over twenty years ago, many of them have come and gone. The strongest ones that survive today are in deep and fervent competition with each other for market share. It’s not always the largest or the best companies that remain in business, admittedly, some of them are pretty crappy.

They might have been small regional entities, or subsidiaries of larger conglomerates, or country-specific, or attached to a particular product line. This question only refers to the service side of the business, not phone manufacturers, phone designers, etc. Of course, some companies did both service and products (hardware), so if your answer includes one of those, it’s the service side that I’m interested in here. 

Thank you.
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Posted - January 24, 2021
Tags : None

Responses


  • 2706
    The first one that comes to mind is Bell Telephone Company with its dial telephones and party lines. In 1956 everyone that had a phone was on a party line. We had two other households on our phone line. Each household had a different ring. Ours was a long ring, pause then another long ring. One of the neighbors had two short rings, etc.

      The bad part about being on a party-line was you had to wait for your neighbor to stop talking before you could use the phone. Ahhh, the good ole days. Our phone number began with OR 7. The OR stood for Oriole. They eventually changed the lettering to the number system we have today. I can't remember the exact date but Bell Telephone was phased out and renamed. I don't recall now what the name was changed to.

      My sister still lives in the same house we moved into in 1956 and still has the same number. I have some great memories of those days. Sorry about the long answer but it was fun to remember.
      January 24, 2021 11:55 PM MST
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  • 52951

     

      Bell offered cell phone service?

      January 25, 2021 1:55 AM MST
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  • 2706
    I just realized I read your question wrong. I missed the "cell phone" part of your question. I was half asleep when I answered it. Sorry about that. :)
      January 25, 2021 7:19 AM MST
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  • 52951

     

      Lol, no problem. I admit you confused me for a second there. I had to rack my brain in an effort to see if Bell was still in business back when cells started being a thing. 

      January 25, 2021 7:43 AM MST
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  • 2706
      January 25, 2021 7:59 AM MST
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  • 6023
    Bell Labs was working on the first mobile phones in 1973, so I would imagine Bell Telephone counts.
      January 25, 2021 10:33 AM MST
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  • 2706
    Thanks for the info, I wasn't aware of that.
      January 25, 2021 11:27 AM MST
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  • 17401
    Bell Labs is responsible for cellular service.  At that time I interacted with the radio relay and marine services which were the frontrunners to cellular.    Motorola built the first mobile phone for use with cellular service.  
      January 25, 2021 3:51 PM MST
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  • 6023
    I believe the first mobile phone call was from a Motorola engineer, to his rival at Bell Labs.
      January 26, 2021 8:07 AM MST
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  • 17401
    Read it again.  Motorola built the first mobile phone for use with cellular service. A phone call of any type requires service (the means to transmit) and a piece of equipment to originate and terminate the transmission.  Bell labs invented the service/transmission/network and Motorola created the first piece of equipment  on which to originate or terminate a call (called a mobile telephone).
      January 26, 2021 1:20 PM MST
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  • 17401
    Where did you think the whole thing started?  Of course it was ma bell.  :)  We were part of the real AT&T.....the wonderful pre-divestiture monopoly that had to be split up via antitrust suit due to its size.  It was nothing compared to Amazon and Google and Apple and they should be split too.  Spliting up ATT was a mistake in my opinion, but alas, they didn't ask my opinion.  The ATT of today is really the old Southwest Bell Telco which, among Bell Companies, was probably the worst.  They bought struggling ATT (which was nothing but long distance and equipment after divestiture) and used that name for its recognition.

      January 25, 2021 3:59 PM MST
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  • 52951

     

      To answer your question, I thought that because the Bell Company by that specific name was never in the cell phone service provider business, it was excluded. 

    ~

      January 25, 2021 4:05 PM MST
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  • 17401
    AT&T was the parent company for all Bell companies prior to divestiture in 1985.  For years all cellular was provided via the local Bell Companies.  For a while cellular was a department but eventually we were forced to separate it into a subsidiary.  At BellSouth, we first had BellSouth Mobility then Cingular.  Now, nationwide, ATT has ATT for local, TV, and internet services and ATT Wireless for its cellular business.  And really, all cellular is still provided by ATT or Verizon.  The others use those networks.  They are different type networks (CDMA and GSM) which is why mobile phones don't work on both. This post was edited by Thriftymaid at January 25, 2021 4:24 PM MST
      January 25, 2021 4:19 PM MST
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  • 52951

     

      Thank you. 

    ~

      January 25, 2021 4:20 PM MST
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  • 32697
    Sprint is now T-Mobile. 
      January 25, 2021 6:13 AM MST
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  • 2706
    Sprint is what I have. When I lived in Florida back in 2005 I switched from Verizon to Sprint because Verizon kept dropping my calls. :)
      January 25, 2021 7:23 AM MST
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  • 32697
    I have T-Mobile.  Can't beat $30 a month unlimited everything. 

    I got rid of Verizon when they extended my contract just because I wanted to change plans sometime in the early 2000s.
      January 25, 2021 10:12 AM MST
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  • 2706
    Now $30 a month sounds like something I could live with. :)
      January 25, 2021 11:26 AM MST
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  • 17401
    Many people here have MetroPCS which is TMobile.
      January 25, 2021 4:07 PM MST
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  • 32697
    Yes. I was MetroPCS as well. Now T-Mobile. 
      January 25, 2021 4:29 PM MST
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  • 17401
    Verizon used to be General Telephone (GTE).  They merged with Bell Atlantic and became Verizon.
      January 25, 2021 4:05 PM MST
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  • 17401
    The ones you listed are not all out of business.


    Nextel
    BellSouth Mobility
    Cingular
    Powertel

    This post was edited by Thriftymaid at January 25, 2021 4:12 PM MST
      January 25, 2021 3:33 PM MST
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  • 52951

     I wasn’t listed listing them as being out of business, I was just listing companies at random. 

    ~

    This post was edited by Randy D at January 25, 2021 7:42 PM MST
      January 25, 2021 4:12 PM MST
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  • 17401
    OK.  And actually, ATT and Verizon own the two cellular networks.  All of the others are resellers or renters. This post was edited by Thriftymaid at January 26, 2021 6:04 AM MST
      January 25, 2021 4:50 PM MST
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