Definition of Ma Bell

nickname for AT&T. Before the Bell System was broken up in 1984, AT&T controlled both local and long distance telephone service in the United States. After the breakup, local phone service was performed by the seven regional phone companies and AT&T concentrated on long distance, telecommunications research, equipment, and computer manufacturing. Even though it no longer enjoyed the monopoly it once had, people still refer to AT&T as Ma Bell. In 2004, AT&T Corporation was purchased by SBC Corporation and SBC took AT&T's name to become AT&T Incorporated. SBC, formerly Southwestern Bell Company, was one of the original seven regional phone companies spun off from AT&T in 1984. AT&T Inc. stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and is one of the most widely held and actively traded stocks on the New York Stock Exchange.