Telephone Related Websites

AreaCode-Info.com - Information and maps about Area Codes, Area Code splits/overlays and other telephone related information.

Bell System Memorial - Website created as a memorial to the people, history, technology and the "Spirit of Service" of what was known as the "Bell System" prior to 1984. Originally by David Massey, now operated by Ben Jackson.

LincMad Telephone Area Codes & Splits - This site is probably the best site detailing NPA (Area Code) splits and overlays. Includes many Area Code maps (past and present) as well as other information. Operated by Linc Madison.

Local Calling Guide - Great website to help you determine local calling areas for any given prefix or ratecenter. Operated by Ray Chow of Ontario, Canada.

Privateline.Com - Tom Farley's website of many writings and articles for telephones, the telephone system, and cellular phones. Also has a very detailed history about the telephone.

thedirectory Prefix Locator - Great website on finding locations if you know the area code and prefix of a phone number.

Telebeans - Telecom stuff for the Mid-Atlantic. Central office pictures, long distance company building pictures, microwave towers and more. Founded by the late Parris Wood.

Telecom Digest - The TELECOM Digest and Archives, along with its associated Internet USENET newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom is a moderated discussion on the telephone and related topics. This digest is moderated by Pat Townson.

Telephone Central Offices - Pictures of telephone central office buildings from all across the US (and a few from Canada). Operated by Jon Jamieson.

Telephone Tribute - An all-inclusive telephone tribute site. Created by David Massey, now operated by Bob & Sheri Stritof.

World Telephone Numbering Guide - Dave Leibold's site with information on country codes and country specific dialing instructions.

Telephone Sound Websites

Phone Trips - The original and still one of the best telephone sound web pages. Narrated telephone recordings by Mark Bernay and Evan Doorbell. Includes submissions by others as well.

This Is a Recording - A website with a large number of telephone sound recordings. Web site operated by Jennifer Martino.

Tribute to the Telephone - The "Signal and Circuit Conditions USA and Canadian Telephone Systems" page of a very large website devoted to the Telephone. Lots of old telephone sounds from some very old equipment.

Telephone Collectors Websites

Antique Telephone Collectors Association - The Antique Telephone Collectors Association, or ATCA, is the largest telephone collectors organization in the world. Chartered in 1971 as a non-profit corporation by the state of Kansas, its over 1500 active members are located throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia.

Telephone Collectors International - Telephone Collectors International is an organization of telephone collectors, hobbyists and historians who are helping to preserve the history of the telecommunications industry through the collection of telephones and telephone related material.

Telephone Pictures Websites

Antique Telephone History Website - If you want a complete history of old (and I mean really OLD telephones), this is the place to go! Everything you wanted to know (and more) but were afraid to ask!

Tribute To The Telephone - Files and Photos - Photographs and descriptions of old telephones and telephone equipment.

Vince Budnick's Cavalcade of Phones - Photographs and descriptions of old telephones - Western Electric, Automatic Electric, Stromberg-Carlson, and more!

Old Telephhones as Entertainment - Photographs, newspaper clippings and more! Specializing on listing every single model number for every phone created! Also has wonderful picture history on prototypes. Automatic Electric & Western Electric and more!

Telephone History Resources & Museums

Atlanta Telephone History - Information about the origin and history of telephone service in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dutch Telephony Museum - Information about the history of telephone service in The Netherlands.

Museum of Communications - A museum of vintage telephone equipment (Step-by-Step, crossbar, etc) located in Seattle, Washington. Formerly known as the Vintage Telephone Equipment Museum.

Rob Grant's Telephone Pages - Rob Grant has a good page on British telephone system history.

The Strowger Telecomms Page - A site devoted to the history of British Step by Step (Strowger) equipment and sounds.

Telephone Exchange Names - Find out what could have been the telephone exchange name for your telephone prefix. (Example: 373 in Fredericksburg, VA was ESsex-3. Also lists Ma Bell's recommended names.

Telephone History Preservation Organizations

TelecomPioneers (formerly known as the Telephone Pioneers of America) - TelecomPioneers is the largest industry-related volunteer organization in the world, with chapters located throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Founded in 1911, TelecomPioneers, formerly known as the Telephone Pioneers of America, is comprised of nearly 750,000 current and retired telecommunications employees who have joined together to make their communities better places in which to live and work.

Pay Telephone Enthusiast Websites

The Mojave Phone Booth Site - A website dedicated to what was probably the most remotely located pay phone in the continental US. This pay phone was located in the middle of the Mojave desert in California. The neat thing about this pay phone is that if you called it, more than likely someone would answer it! Unfortunately, the National Park Service didn't like all the attention it was getting and had it removed in 2000. The number of the pay phone was (760) 733-9969.

Pay Phone Directory - The original pay telephone directory, operated by El Jefe. News and information about pay telephones, including Customer Owned Pay Telephones (COCOTs). Also has many recordings from telephone switching equipment.

The Payphone Project - User-contributed listings of pay telephones throughout the US, Canada and parts of the rest of the world. Also includes some information, photographs, and funny stories related so some of these phones. An excellent site operted by Mark A. Thomas.

Telephone Tribute - Pay Phones & Phone Booths
A great telephone tribute website - this page devoted to the pay phone. Developed by David Massey, it is now maintained by Bob and Sheri Stritof.

Stromcarlson.com
A website that has pictures of pay phones in southern California and Nevada. Also with pictures of central office buildings in the Las Vegas area. Site also has phone recordings and listings of some interesting phone numbers.

Phonebooth.us
A website devoted to the history of pay telephones (mostly Western Electric) with photos of classic pay phones, technical information, and even old magazine advertisements encouraging the use of pay phones. There is an additional site called The Phonebooth by the same webmaster.

COCOT Pay Phone Providers

Protel - Protel provides innovative payphone solutions--pay telephone equipment, retrofit kits, payphone parts, software--to telecom companies worldwide. Founded in 1983, Protel is North America¹s leading manufacturer of smart public pay telephones, with payphones installed in more than 60 countries.

QuorTech - Current owners of the Millenium pay phone (formerly made by Nortel) and the Western Electric "Fortress" pay phone (formerly made by Western Electric & Lucent). QuorTech also includes the former Elcotel COCOT company.

Telephone Resource Management Companies

Telcordia - Originally Bellcore, a joint ventured company originally owned by the seven RBOCs when AT&T split up in 1984. Now an independent company that still provides telephone numbering and related research. The Traffic Routing Administration division assigns and issues new telephone prefixes within the US.

North American Numbering Plan Administration - The North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) has been turned over to a third-party private industry (NeuStar). NANPA's job is to handle numbering administration for the USA, Canada, most Carribean islands, and some Pacific islands (Guam and Northern Marianas Islands).

NeuStar Number Pool Administration - NeuStar's website that is devoted to "thousand block pooling" of telephone prefixes. Included are reports that you can run to find out what prefixes have thousand block pooling and what carriers are assigned to each prefix thousands block.

Telephone Switch Companies

Alcatel-Lucent - Formed in December 2006 from the merger of Alcatel (France) and Lucent Technologies (USA). Lucent is also home of Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent & former Western Electric.

Ericsson - Based in Sweden, makers of computer and telephone switch network products, focusing on the wireless market.

Nortel Networks - Based in Canada. Nortel (Northern Telecom) is a manufacturer of computer and telephone switching systems.

DCO - The line of "Digital Central Office" switches. Inveted by the former Stromberg-Carlson company of the USA in the early 1980s. It was later sold to Siemens of Germany. In 2006, this division was sold to GENBAND.

EWSD - Invented in 1985 by Siemens of Germany. The EWSD switch is a medium to high capacity digital switch. In 2007, Nokia Corporation and Siemens AG formed the new company Nokia Siemens Networks, and responsibility of further development and shipments of the EWSD system is dependent on this new company.

On-line Telephone Directory Websites

AnyWho - Find a number for a person or business - anywhere in the USA. Helpful when you only know part of a name. Also has a reverse number lookup. This website is operated by AT&T.

DA Plus - This site lets you search for residences or busineses by telephone number and also by name.

Switchboard - Very good online telephone directory. A subsidiary of Idearc Media (the spinoff of Verizon's phone book division).

SuperPages - The on-line directory operated by Idearc Media (formerly by Verizon).

YellowPages.Com - The on-line business pages of at&t.

Large Local Telephone Companies - USA

A list of local phone companies that serve a significant area and customer base. Primarily what is left of the Regional Bell companies (RBOCs) and the larger independents.

at&t - The local arm of "at&t", formerly SBC Communications. The new at&t now contains the former "Baby Bells" (RBOCs or Regional Bell Operating Companies) including SBC (Southwestern Bell), Ameritech, Pacific Telesis and BellSouth. Also includes the former Southern New England Telephone (SNET).

CenturyTel - An independent telephone company serving primarily rural areas in portions of 22 states. Soon to include EMBARQ phone company to a to-be named new company (see below).

Cincinnati Bell - An RBOC that covers the Cincinnati metro area.

Consolidated Communications - A medium sized independent communications company based in Illinois serving customers in Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvnia. Includes the former North Pittsburgh Telephone Company of Gibsonia, PA.

EMBARQ - Created in 2006 as a spin-off of Sprint Local (former landline divsion of Sprint). This will be soon sold to CentruryTel in early 2009. EMBARQ includes the former United Telephone, Carolina Telephone & Telegraph and CENTEL (Central Telephone).

Fairpoint Communications - An independent communications provider serving 32 markets in 18 states. Fairpoint was formed by buying a number of small independent telephone companies throughout the United States. In 2008, Fairpoint purchased the rural telephone holdings of Verizon in the New England states formerly controlled by NYNEX.

Frontier Communications - A telecommunications-focused company providing wireline communications services in rural areas and small and medium-sized towns and cities. Formerly known as Rochester Telephone, it was merged and changed to Frontier. It later merged with Citizens Telephone. Later, Citizens took the name of Fronitier. Also includes the former Commonwealth Telephone Company of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Qwest (Local) - The local arm of Qwest (formerly the RBOC US West) that serves a number of Western states.

Verizon - Verizon is the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE in 2000. Bell Atlantic contained for former NYNEX RBOC, while GTE contained the fomer Contel phone company.

Windstream Communications - Created in 2006 with the merger of Alltel's landline division and Valor Telecommunications (itself created in 1999 with spun off GTE areas due to its merger with Verizon).

Large Local Telephone Companies - Canada

A list of local phone companies that serve a significant area and customer base.

Bell Aliant - The Maritime side of Bell Canada. Serves New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Laborador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Bell Canada - The Ontario/Quebec side of Bell Canada. Primarily serves Ontario and Quebec, but also serves parts of British Columbia and Alberta.

MTS Allstream - Manitoba Telecom Services - serves Manitoba. Formed in 2004 with the merger of MTS and Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada).

Northwestel - Serves portions of British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

SaskTel -Serves Saskatchewan.

Telus - Serves British Columbia and Alberta. Formed from the merger of BC Telephone and Alberta Telephone.

Major IXC (Inter-Exchange) Carriers - USA

at&t - The "long lines" (long distance) arm of the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company. Formed from a merger of AT&T and SBC.

MCI - The first competition to AT&T. Originally known as Microwave Communications, Inc. Merged with Worldcom in the late 1990s. Dropped the Worldcom part of their name after their bankruptcy in the early 2000s, now the long distance arm of Verizon Business.

Qwest - The long distance arm Qwest. Includes the former LCI Long Distance Company. Also is the RBOC local provider in 14 western states.

Sprint - The long distance arm of Sprint-Nextel. Originally was called Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Telecommunications when it formed in 1970. United Telephone and GTE purchsed SPRINT and ran the company as GTE Sprint in the 1980s. United Telephone bought out GTE's interest and changed their corporate name to Sprint in the early 1990s.

Major Wireless Companies - USA

Alltel Wireless - Provides CDMA wireless voice and data services in a number of rural areas nationwide. Alltel divested their landline service to Windstream. Alltel will merge with Verizon Wireless in 2009.

at&t Mobility - Provides GSM wireless voice and data services in many areas nationwide. Formerly known as Cingular Wireless before BellSouth and SBC's "at&t" merged in January 2007. Cingular was formed from the former SBC's Cellular One and the former AT&T Wireless in October 2004. Merged with Dobson Communications (formerly Cellular One) in November 2007. Will merge with Centennial Wireless in 2009.

Bluegrass Cellular - Regional CDMA voice and data carrier. Services in Kentucky.

Cellular South - Regional CDMA voice and data carrier. Home coverage is in Memphis, TN and Mississippi through Coastal Alabama to Destin, Florida.

Centennial Wireless - Regional GSM voice and data carrier. Will be merged in to at&t Mobility in 2009.

Cricket Communications - Regional CDMA voice and data carrier.

Metro PCS - Regional CDMA voice and data carrier.

Sprint - Provides CDMA voice and data services in many areas nationwide. which was formed as Fleet Call, Inc. in 1987. The business wireless side of Sprint (formerly Nextel) provides cellular-like technology in the SMR (Specialized Mobile Radio) band. Nextel exclusively uses Motorola's iDEN digital TDMA style PCS technology.

T-Mobile - Provides GSM services in more populated areas of the US. Owned by Deutsche Telekom of Germany. Formerly known as Voicestream.

US Cellular - Provides CDMA services in a number of rural areas nationwide.

Verizon Wireless - The wireless division of Verizon, provides analog and CDMA services in many areas nationwide. Formed from the former Bell Atlantic/NYNEX mobile, GTE Wireless, PCS Primeco, Airtouch and other smaller wireless and PCS companies. Will merge with Alltel in 2009.

2 comments:

Unknown December 2, 2014 at 11:46 AM  

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