In 1984 after the ATT monopoly breakup, there were 3 telecom companies, essentially: ATT MCI SPRINT AT&T, Inc. in 2008 has 42% of the landlines. It consists of these companies from the past : * BellSouth Telecommunications (2007, former Southern Bell and South Central Bell) * Illinois Bell * Indiana Bell * Michigan Bell * Nevada Bell (formerly known as Bell Telephone Company of Nevada) * Ohio Bell * Pacific Bell (formerly Pacific Telephone & Telegraph) * Southwestern Bell (SBC or Southwestern Bell Comm) * Wisconsin Bell (formerly Wisconsin Telephone) Verizon-Vodafone in 2008 has 32% of the landlines plus wireless holdings plus broadband * MCI was the 2nd largest telecom in 1984 after ATT breakup. Retained 2nd until 1998. * Worldcom bought MCI in 1998 and then MCI became MCI Worldcom * Worldcom bought Sprint in 1999, then controlling 32% of the market, when ATT had 48% * Verizon bought MCI-Worldcom in 2006, the biggest merger in history * Verizon bought ALLTEL in 2008, passing ATT wireless subscriber base