What’s in a name?

AirTouch Communications was originally a part of Pacific Telesis (PacTel), one of the seven regional Bell companies in the USA. AirTouch merged with Vodafone in 1999 to become – briefly – Vodafone AirTouch.

Alltel was an independent American telephone company providing mobile and fixed telephone services. In 2006 it spun off its fixed businesses, which were then merged with those of Valor Communications to form Windstream. The mobile business then acquired Western Wireless. It was in turn acquired by Verizon Wireless in 2010.

Ameritech was one of the regional Bell companies serving the Midwest. It was acquired by SBC in 1999.

AT&T split into eight separate companies in 1984. There were seven regional Bell companies – Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, NYNEX, Pacific Telesis, Southwestern Bell and US West – and a long-distance company that retained the AT&T name. In 2005, following the spin-off of its mobile businesses as AT&T Wireless, the company was acquired by its former regional subsidiary, SBC Communications. SBC then adopted the AT&T name.

The Bell Telephone Company changed its name several times but eventually became AT&T.

Bell Atlantic was one of the original regional Bell companies. In 1997 it merged with NYNEX and then, in 2000, with GTE. Following this deal it changed its name to Verizon Communications. Its mobile activities, in which Vodafone had a 45% interest, became Verizon Wireless.

Bell South was one of the original regional Bell companies. It dropped the space between the two words to become BellSouth. It was acquired by AT&T, the former SBC, in 2006.

BT emerged out of the United Telephone Company. Until the late 1970s, it was known as Post Office Telephones, before becoming first British Telecom and, later, the BT Group.

Cable & Wireless was incorporated in 1929. It formed Mercury Communications in 1982 and merged this with three UK cable companies in 1997 to form Cable & Wireless Communications. In 2000 the group split into two, and the corporate activities were spun off as Cable & Wireless Worldwide, while the traditional international telephone operations assumed the name Cable & Wireless Communications. Cable & Wireless Worldwide was acquired by Vodafone in 2013 and Cable & Wireless Communications by Liberty Global in 2016.

Cellnet became BT Cellnet for a brief while, before being demerged from BT. It changed its name to O2 in 2002, after which it was acquired by Telefónica.

Cingular Wireless was formed in 2000, through the merger of the wireless businesses of SBC Communications (60%) and BellSouth (40%). After the latter was acquired by AT&T, the former SBC, Cingular became a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T and adopted the name AT&T Mobility.

The French utility CGE became Vivendi Universal, an entertainment conglomerate. Most of the businesses within its COFIRA holding company were transferred to Cegetel, including SFR. Cegetel changed its name to SFR following a merger of the two businesses, while Vivendi has dropped ‘Universal’. SFR later merged with France’s largest cable TV operator, Numericable, and shortly thereafter the enlarged business was acquired by Altice SA.

Digital Phone in Japan became J-Phone, before being renamed Vodafone Japan and subsequently SoftBank Mobile, following Vodafone’s sale of its Japanese interests.

EE, or Everything Everywhere, was formed through the merger of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK. It was subsequently acquired by BT.

E-Plus became KPN Deutschland, before being merged with Telefónica Deutschland.

France Telecom started life as Société Générale des Téléphones. In 2013 it adopted the name Orange.

GTE, the largest of the US independent telephone companies, had several names, including General Telephone, before settling on General Telephone and Electric. It merged with Bell Atlantic to form Verizon Communications in 2000.

ITT has disposed of its telecoms manufacturing assets. Some of its other businesses now trade as ITT Inc.

KPN, or more formally Koninklijke KPN NV, is the telecommunications arm of the Dutch national PTT, formerly known as PTT Telecom.

Mannesmann Mobilfunk D2 Privat became Vodafone D2 before becoming Vodafone Germany.

Marconi’s Wireless Telegraphy Company created a broadcasting business that later became the British Broadcasting Corporation, today’s BBC. Its manufacturing business became part of English Electric and subsequently GEC. The original telegraph business became the ‘Wireless’ part of Cable & Wireless in 1929. The US arm of the company was expropriated by the US government in 1914 and became the Radio Corporation of America. This business was subsequently acquired by a different General Electric, a US conglomerate that traces its origins back to Thomas Edison.

McCaw Cellular was acquired by AT&T in 1994. It was later spun off, together with AT&T’s other US mobile interests, as AT&T Wireless. That company was acquired by Cingular Wireless in 2004.

MCI was incorporated as Microwave Communications Inc. in 1963. It was acquired by WorldCom in November 1997. The enlarged MCI WorldCom went bankrupt shortly thereafter and was later acquired by Verizon Communications.

Mercury Communications was founded by Cable & Wireless, in conjunction with Barclays Bank and BP. It became part of Cable & Wireless Worldwide when its parent company split into two separate entities and was eventually acquired by Vodafone.

Mercury one2one was established by Cable & Wireless and Motorola. It was acquired by Deutsche Telekom in 1999 and changed its name to T-Mobile UK. It merged with Orange UK to form EE in 2010.

MetroPCS was an independent US operator that acquired several PCS licences in the 1995 auctions. It was acquired by T-Mobile in 2012.

Microtel became Orange and, later, a part of EE.

Millicom Inc. was established in 1982. It subsequently became Millicom International Cellular.

Mobile Telecommunications Company of Kuwait changed its name to Zain after it had begun to expand into international markets.

MTN began life as M-Cell, which was awarded one of the first two GSM licences in South Africa. It changed its name to MTN after it began to expand its operations into other African markets.

NordicTel became Europolitan, then Vodafone Sweden, and finally Telenor Sweden after Vodafone’s sale of the business.

NYNEX was one of the originally Bell companies. It was acquired by Bell Atlantic in 1997.

Omnipoint was acquired by VoiceStream, before the latter was bought by Deutsche Telekom and renamed T-Mobile US.

Omnitel Pronto Italia became Omnitel, then Vodafone Omnitel, and finally Vodafone Italy.

Orange was originally called Microtel. It retained the Orange name throughout three changes in ownership. In 2013 France Telecom, which had bought the company from Vodafone in 2000, took the name as its own. The original Orange UK business was merged with T-Mobile in 2010 to form EE.

Pacific Telesis was originally one of the Bell companies. It spun off its domestic and international wireless activities as AirTouch Communications in 1993 and was acquired by SBC Communications in 1997.

Panafon became Vodafone Panafon before becoming Vodafone Greece.

Qatar Telecom was the state-owned operator in the Gulf state. It changed its name to Q-Tel after it started to diversify into foreign markets, before changing this once more to Ooredoo.

SBC was originally called Southwestern Bell and was one of the seven regionals spun out of AT&T. It changed its name to AT&T after it acquired its former parent in 2005.

Sprint has adopted various versions of its name over the years, including US Sprint and Sprint Nextel. Its first cellular businesses were spun off as 360° Communications, and its PCS activities were named Sprint PCS before the merger with Nextel. The company is in the process of merging with T-Mobile US.

Telecel became Vodafone Telecel and then Vodafone Portugal. It is not related to Telecel International.

Telecom Finland was the state-owned long-distance monopoly, with a limited presence in the local exchange market. It became Sonera at the time of its privatisation, and later a part of the merged Telia Sonera.

Telefónica has its origins in CTNE, created in 1924 through the merger of several regional telephone companies. It retained this name until the 1980s, when it became Telefónica de España and then Telefónica.

Televerket became Telia and, after its merger with Sonera, Telia Sonera. It has recently dropped the Sonera and reverted to Telia.

Telsim was the second mobile operator in Turkey. It was acquired by Vodafone in 2005 and became Vodafone Turkey.

US West was one of the seven regional Bell companies. It sold its domestic cellular interests to AirTouch in 1997 and then created a new vehicle, US West Media Group, to own all of its unregulated activities. The telephone assets were acquired by Qwest Communications in 2000, while the Media Group was divided between AT&T and Deutsche Telekom.

VEBA was a German electrical power utility. It changed its name to E.ON after it merged with VIAG.

Verizon Communications was formed in 2000 through the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. Its mobile interests were merged with the domestic assets of Vodafone AirTouch to form Verizon Wireless, a 55:45 joint venture. Vodafone sold its interest in the business in 2013.

VIAG InterKom became InterKom after VIAG and Telenor sold their stakes to BT. It was known for a while as O2 Germany, before becoming Telefónica Deutschland.

VimpelCom experimented with various versions of its name, but in 2016 changed its name to VEON Ltd.

Vodacom is a joint venture between the Vodafone Group and Telkom South Africa.

The Vodafone Group began life as Racal Millicom in 1983. In 1986 this became Racal Telecom, the holding company for the various ‘Voda’ activities – Racal Vodafone, Racal Vodac, Racal Vodata, Racal Vodapage, etc. Following a full demerger from Racal in 1990, Racal Telecom changed its name to Vodafone Group. After the merger with AirTouch this became Vodafone AirTouch for a few months, before reverting to Vodafone Group.

VoiceStream was created by Western Wireless in 1995. This then became T-Mobile US. The original cellular business was subsequently acquired by Alltel.

WorldCom was originally Long Distance Discount Service. It acquired MCI in 1997, after which it changed its name to MCI WorldCom. The company then went bankrupt. MCI WorldCom was acquired by Verizon Wireless after it emerged from bankruptcy protection.

Zain was formerly known as Mobile Telecommunications Company.