38-473: Mercury Communications was a national telephone company in the United Kingdom, formed in 1981 as a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless , to challenge the then-monopoly of British Telecom (BT). Although it proved only moderately successful at challenging BT's dominance, it led the way for new communication companies to attempt the same. In 1997, Mercury ceased to exist as a brand after its amalgamation into
76-603: A joint venture agreement with Time Warner Cable to form Time Warner Communications (later known as TW Telecom ) in 1993- it also purchased a 26% stake in Time Warner Entertainment's entertainment operations including Warner Bros. and HBO , which was passed to MediaOne, AT&T, and finally Comcast. Comcast sold the stake back to Time Warner Inc. in 2003. US West Communications was the first local telephone company to offer Caller ID service in 1991, nearly four years before any other local telco could do so. They were
114-550: A major disposal programme, selling One2One to T-Mobile in 1999, and selling its stake in CWC's consumer operations to NTL (now Virgin Media ) in 2000. From 1986 Mercury operated public payphones in the UK, in competition with BT. These proved not to be profitable and this interest was sold in 1995. They were notable for their varied designs which imitated architectural styles. Mercury also operated
152-668: A result of the Telecommunications Act of 1996) complained to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that US West was uncooperative in releasing their owned lines to these new companies. These types of complaints landed US West in court yet again, offering the complex question of whether or not the government could legally offer the sale of owned property to other companies in the event of deregulation . In 1996, reports appearing in The Denver Post and
190-433: A short time and increasing revenues. US West also had ownership in the cable industry with its 1994 purchase of Atlanta-based Wometco and GTC cable operations and the subsequent purchase of Continental Cablevision , creating MediaOne Group Inc. MediaOne, along with several ancillary businesses, was spun off as a separate company in 1998 from the traditional phone operations to form MediaOne Group. US West also participated in
228-441: A wider scale (they were the first communications provider to use this strategy called beta-testing , a term used for many years in the software development industry). Their geographic presence featured telephone switching equipment that had been constructed fairly recent to the time frame, thereby requiring fewer upgrades. Their service area was also experiencing population growth at a tremendous rate, tripling their subscriber-base in
266-698: The Rocky Mountain News revealed that CLECs had lodged complaints with the FCC against US West, including multiple complaints from Qwest Communications International, Inc. The complaints alleged US West neglected or seriously delayed release of "bundled loops" as required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 , making it difficult for competitors to provide local telephone service to their customers. Other competitors began following suit, and charged US West with monopoly-like or anti-trust type behavior. During
304-512: The Imperial and International Communications company, and from 1934 as Cable & Wireless . Following the Labour Party 's victory in the 1945 general election, the government announced its intention to nationalise Cable and Wireless, which was carried out in 1947. The company remained government-owned, continuing to own assets and operating telecommunication services outside the UK. All assets in
342-641: The Postmaster General's office, which was in charge of licensing new telephone companies, issued thirteen new licences. But by 1911, five of the remaining six competitors had been taken over by either the General Post Office (GPO) or NTC. Under the Telephone Transfer Act 1911 , NTC was taken over by the GPO in 1912, and created a state-run monopoly that would run nearly all telecommunication assets in
380-588: The United States are also known as local exchange carriers . With the advent of mobile telephony , telecommunications companies now include wireless carriers , or mobile network operators and even satellite providers ( Iridium ). Over time software companies have also evolved to perform telephone services such as: Net2Phone , WhatsApp , and others. In 1913, the Kingsbury Commitment allowed more than 20,000 independent telecommunications companies in
418-435: The 'Mercury 2300' service via their existing BT phone line by dialling a '131' prefix followed by a ten-digit customer code, then the number they wished to dial. Some phones were manufactured with a 'Mercury button' which allowed the prefix and customer code to be stored and then dialled with a single button press. Later, a more modern indirect service was introduced which required only the dialling of an access code (132) and
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#1732858768677456-742: The Qwest brand was replaced by the CenturyLink brand. US West became a pioneer in the introduction and rapid system-wide implementation of telephone technologies designed by Bellcore (now iconectiv ) in the 1980s and 1990s. Their lead in this push became one that many other Regional Bell Operating Companies had to scramble to keep up with. US West's success in this endeavor was for multiple reasons which included their then-innovative use of "test-markets" for staggered roll-outs of new calling features in middle-sized cities such as Boise, Idaho ; Minneapolis , Minnesota; and Phoenix, Arizona before releasing them on
494-464: The UK for the next seventy years. During the 1920s, there was increasing competition from companies using radio communications such as Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company . In 1928, it was decided that all telecommunication assets outside the UK, and within the British Empire , particularly the telegraph companies, should be merged into one operating company. The merged entity was initially known as
532-637: The UK were integrated with those of the General Post Office, which operated the UK's domestic telecommunications monopoly. In October 1969, the Post Office (a public corporation) replaced the General Post Office (a government department). In October 1981, the Post Office was split into two separate public corporations, the Post Office and British Telecommunications . In 1981, the Thatcher government started
570-524: The UK. One2One was established as the trading name of Mercury Personal Communications, a joint venture partnership equally owned by Cable & Wireless and US West International , a division of US WEST Media Group. One2One introduced Britain's first 1800 MHz GSM network in 1993, in competition with the existing mobile networks of Vodafone and Cellnet . Mercury forged strategic alliances with 16 UK cable companies, which enabled them to offer both telephone and television services to their customers. By
608-460: The US West name, while the remaining assets such as cable, wireless and international businesses became MediaOne. The split was structured so that MediaOne Inc. was the legal successor to US West Inc., and US West was the spin-off entity. US West merged with Qwest on June 30, 2000, and over time the US West brand was replaced by the Qwest brand. Qwest merged with CenturyLink on April 1, 2011, and
646-950: The United States to use the long distance trunks of Bell Telephone Company . US West US West, Inc. was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs, also referred to as "Baby Bells"), created in 1983 under the Modification of Final Judgement ( United States v. Western Electric Co., Inc. 552 Fed. Supp. 131), a case related to the antitrust breakup of AT&T . US West provided local telephone and intraLATA long-distance services, data transmission services, cable television services, wireless communications services and related telecommunications products to defined areas in Arizona , Colorado , Idaho , Iowa , Minnesota , Montana , Nebraska , New Mexico , North Dakota , Oregon , South Dakota , Utah , Washington , and Wyoming . US West
684-504: The company often claimed that subscriber demands were often greater than their ability to fulfill orders, many critics pointed to high profit margins, spending on bring-to-market technology and lackluster investment in customer support. US West went through a period of union-management relations that bordered on positive during the early 1990s. After a failed re-engineering strategy, relations fell apart due to increasing hostility between company leaders and employees. An often-used nickname for
722-638: The company was "US Worst." When the company rolled out its new slogan – "Life's better here" – employees began wearing buttons and shirts that stated that "Life's Bitter Here". The company was fined multiple times by the State of Oregon for these practices during the 1990s. US West was also, at several times, involved in smaller litigation with other states within its service area for similar complaints from customers. Qwest, MCI , and smaller competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) who had recently been allowed to offer local service within US West's service area (as
760-510: The destination number. Mercury also provided backbone services to the emerging British cable operators which were beginning to offer their own fixed-line telephone services. Mercury moved into the Private Branch eXchange market in 1990 as a result of Telephone Rentals being bought by Cable & Wireless. This enabled the Smart Box to be connected to a large number of TR's customers, so traffic
798-513: The distinction between a telephone company and ISP has tended to disappear completely over time, as the current trend for supplier convergence in the industry develops. Additionally, with advances in technology development, other traditional separate industries such as cable television, Voice-over IP (VoIP) , and satellite providers offer similar competing features as the telephone companies to both residential and businesses leading to further evolution of corporate identity have taken shape. Due to
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#1732858768677836-450: The end of January 1993, over 117,000 telephone lines were supplied to cable operators by Mercury. In October 1996, Mercury was merged with three cable operators in the UK ( Vidéotron , Nynex and Bell Cable media) and renamed Cable & Wireless Communications (in which Cable & Wireless plc owned a 53% stake); the Mercury brand then ceased to be used. Following this, the group embarked on
874-528: The first GSM 1800 mobile phone service, launched in 1993 as Mercury One2one . The service was first rolled out in the London area bounded by the M25 , and offered free mobile to landline calls at off-peak times, weekends and Bank Holidays . Calls could be made free to landlines in the area the mobile was in, and to adjacent landline exchange codes. Even after this plan ceased being sold, SIM cards that were subscribed to
912-402: The first U.S. telco to upgrade their PSTN to electronic switching before 1990 and they were the first to offer residential and business ISDN and later, DSL services to their customers by 1997. As a result of its rapid "bring-to-market" abilities and continued success in technological advancements, the company adopted the slogan "Life's better here." developed by ad agency NW Ayer. US West
950-675: The nature of capital expenditure involved in the past, most telecommunications companies were government owned agencies or privately-owned monopolies operated in most countries under close state-regulations. But today there are many private players in most regions of the world, and even most of the government owned companies have been opened up to competition in-line with World Trade Organization (WTO) policy agenda. Historically these government agencies were often referred to, primarily in Europe, as PTTs ( postal, telegraph and telephone services ). Telecommunications companies are common carriers , and in
988-404: The operations of Cable & Wireless. The history of telecommunications in the United Kingdom starts in 1879, with the establishment of its first telephone exchange in London by The Telephone Company (Bells Patents) Ltd . On 10 March 1881, National Telephone Company (NTC) was formed, which later brought together smaller local telephone companies. In 1898, to break the near-monopoly held by NTC,
1026-401: The plan continued to provide these free calls, and often changed hands for large sums of money. Coverage was extended throughout the decade, with most of the UK having service by 1997. One2One was sold to Deutsche Telekom in 1999 for £8.4bn, and was rebranded as T-Mobile in 2002. Mercury began by offering fixed-line facilities direct to business and residential customers. Callers could use
1064-573: The process of privatising nearly all state-run monopolies, including British Airways , British Steel Corporation , British Aerospace , and later British Telecommunications. The act also started the privatisation of Cable & Wireless, whose primary business was then in Hong Kong . In 1981, Mercury Communications Ltd – a consortium of Cable & Wireless, Barclays , and BP – was founded as an experiment in telecommunications competition, primarily to compete with British Telecom . Its first chairperson
1102-693: The telecommunications firm NTL in 1999, and then sold on to Npower in 2001 before the service was withdrawn entirely some years later. Its name lives on through its original sponsorship of the Mercury Music Prize , now sponsored by Free Now . Telephone company A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many traditional solely telephone companies now function as internet service providers (ISPs), and
1140-474: The then-existent cellular phone technology, giving customers the flexibility to make or take calls in the home or car, in an aeroplane, or while on holiday. In November 1992, Cable & Wireless sold a 20% stake for about £480 million to the Canadian company BCE, the parent company of Bell Canada International , which brought much-needed telecommunications expertise to Mercury. BCE also owned two cable companies in
1178-537: The three companies began doing business under the US West Communications name. On January 1, 1991, Northwestern Bell and Pacific Northwest Bell were legally merged into Mountain Bell which was renamed US West Communications, Inc. US West was the first RBOC to consolidate its Bell Operating Companies (the other was BellSouth ). In 1998, US West split into two separate companies. Its telephone properties maintained
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1216-494: The winter of 1999–2000, US West announced that it had received an unsolicited purchase offer from Qwest Communications International, Inc. At the time, US West had been attempting to merge with Global Crossing , because the offer from Qwest was for a higher value, the US West Board accepted it. On June 30, 2000, US West, Inc. and Qwest Communications International, Inc. combined via merger. Qwest Communications International, Inc.
1254-430: Was Sir Michael Edwardes , known for his success in turning around British Leyland . Mercury Communications was first licensed in 1982, and became a full Public Telecommunications Operator in 1984. The same year, Cable & Wireless bought out the stakes of its partners. In 1989, Mercury formed a consortium with Motorola and Shaye Communications to run a national Telepoint service in the UK. Branded as Callpoint, it
1292-758: Was a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "USW" with headquarters at 1801 California Street in Denver , Colorado. Until 1990, US West was a holding company with three Bell Operating Companies : Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph (or Mountain Bell , headquartered in Denver , Colorado); Northwestern Bell , then headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska ; and Pacific Northwest Bell , then headquartered in Seattle , Washington. In 1988,
1330-475: Was merged into US West and renamed Qwest with all of US West's direct subsidiaries becoming direct subsidiaries of Qwest. After the merger, the Bell Operating Company subsidiary was renamed from US West Communications, Inc. to Qwest Corporation and other subsidiaries were similarly renamed to reflect the Qwest name. After Qwest was acquired by CenturyLink in 2011, the Qwest brand was replaced by
1368-452: Was not a success and closed in June 1991 after operating for a year and a half. In July 1991, Mercury's sister concern, Mercury Personal Communications Network (PCN) Ltd, was awarded one of the licences to develop and build a personal communications network (PCN) in the United Kingdom. The other two went to Microtel Communications (later Orange), and Unitel. PCNs were envisaged to be superior to
1406-436: Was one of the first companies in the United States to officially recognize and support its gay and lesbian employees. The Eagles, an employee resource group for gay and lesbian US West employees, was recognized in 1989. It had chapters in seven US states by 1990. US West was accused by critics of failing to meet service needs within a reasonable time frame and of practicing predatory billing and collection methods. While
1444-464: Was routed away from BT onto Mercury's network. Mercury pulled out of the PABX market in 1996, when it sold that part of the business to Siemens, creating Siemens Business Communication Systems (SBCS), which later became Siemens Communications. In 1997 the Mercury brand ceased to be and it was amalgamated into Cable & Wireless Communications. The consumer arm of the latter would eventually be bought out by
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