BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS) is a U.S. telecommunications company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after the U.S. Department of Justice forced the American Telephone and Telegraph Company to divest itself of its regional telephone companies on January 1, 1984.

On March 5, 2006, AT&T announced its plans to acquire BellSouth for $67 billion (1.325 shares of AT&T for each share of BellSouth). [1] The combined company would retain the name AT&T.

When completed, the merger will consolidate ownership of Cingular Wireless, currently a joint venture between BellSouth and AT&T. Subsequent to completion of the merger, wireless services would be offered under the AT&T name.

BellSouth is the last of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (or "Baby Bell") to have kept its original corporate name since the 1984 AT&T breakup, as well as the only one to have retained the Bell logo. Cincinnati Bell, an independent Bell System franchise not part of the AT&T breakup, also continues to use the logo.

Organization and services

The subsidiaries Southern Bell and South Central Bell combined in 1992 to operate under the corporate name BellSouth. Services provided in the BellSouth operating area include telephone and DSL/Dial-Up Internet services in the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

BellSouth is realigning itself in two important areas, wireless and broadband. A 40 percent joint venture with AT&T (formerly SBC) in U.S. wireless telephone service provider Cingular Wireless provides a large percentage of BellSouth's revenue. Continued increase of broadband penetration and applications in the consumer market is a key strategy to the company. These activities are being funded in part by the sale of Latin America operations.

BellSouth is currently the only "Baby Bell" that does not operate pay telephones. By 2003, BellSouth's payphone operation was discontinued because it had become too unprofitable, most likely due to the increased availability of cell phones. Cincinnati Bell has taken BellSouth's place for payphones in northern BellSouth territory; independents have set in further south.

BellSouth's main operating units are the Communications Group, Domestic Wireless, and Advertising and Publishing. The communications group operates two wholly-owned subsidiaries, BellSouth Telecommunications Inc. (BST) and BellSouth Long Distance, Inc. (BSLD). The main marketing groups for the communications group are consumer, small business, large business, and interconnection (wholesale services). The communications group provides wireline communications services, including local exchange, network access, intraLATA long distance services, and Internet services, as well as long distance services.

The domestic wireless group provides wireless services through its 40% ownership of Cingular Wireless (formerly BellSouth Mobility, jointly owned with AT&T).

The advertising and publishing group is responsible for printing and distributing telephone books, selling advertising, and operating online electronic directories.

The BellSouth - AT&T relationship goes further than just Cingular Wireless. BellSouth & AT&T also co-own yellowpages.com (formerly RealPages.com and SmartPages.com).

BellSouth licenses its trademark to US Electronics, which produces telephones under the BellSouth brand.

The image to the right is a photograph of BellSouth Center, commonly mistaken as the BellSouth Corporation headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. It is actually the main building for BellSouth Telecommunications (formerly Southern Bell headquarters) which is the phone company division of BellSouth Corporation. The BellSouth Corporation is headquartered in the Campanile building at the intersection of 14th and Peachtree streets in Atlanta, Georgia, across the street from the Colony Square hotel in Midtown.