Links of Interest

 

Here are some links to some telecommunications related websites. Included are telephone companies, telecom equipment manufacturers and distributors, and links to websites that are similar to Telephone World.

Other Telephone Enthusiast & Resource Websites

A list of other telephone enthusiast & resource websites similar to Telephone World.

Telephone Central Office Building Pictures (by Telephone World)
A companion site to Telephone World – Pictures of over 7500 Telephone Central Office Buildings in the US and Canada.

SXSPhil’s YouTube Channel
Phil McCarter’s YouTube channel where talk about his vintage analog switching systems.

The History of Phone Phreaking Blog
The companion site to the book Exploding the Phone about telephone phreakers.

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.

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 was founded by Jon Solomon in 1981, then ran by Pat Townson from 1986 to 2007, and from 2007 to present is now moderated by Bill Horne.

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

Evan Doorbell’s Telephone Tapes (Hosted by Telephone World)
A companion site to Telephone World – The famous phone phreak Evan Doorbell hosts many hours of telephone recordings from the 70s and 80s to showcase how the phone sounded many years ago. Telephone World hosts the files for Evan.

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.

Novelty PSTN (NPSTN)
A website with a large number of vintage style telephone sound recordings. Web site operated by Dylan Cruz .

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.

Dial-A-Joke Telephone Entertainment Phone Recordings
A website with a large number of vintage recordings from various Dial-A-Joke phone lines from the 60s to the 80s, mostly from California.

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 Parts and Equipment

Oldphoneworks
Sales of refurbished telephones and parts.

PHONECO, Inc.
Sales of refurbished telephones and parts.

Telephone History Resources & Museums

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

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

The Telephone Museum
A museum of vintage telephone equipment located in Ellsworth, ME.

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.

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.

Telephone Resource Management Companies

iconectiv
iconectiv is a supplier of network planning and network management services to telecommunications providers. Known as Bellcore after its establishment in the United States in 1983 as part of the break-up of the Bell System, the company’s name changed to Telcordia Technologies after a change of ownership in 1996. The business was acquired by Ericsson in 2012, then restructured and rebranded as iconectiv in 2013.


North American Numbering Plan Administration

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

National Pooling Administrator
Somos’ 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

Nokia Networks
Nokia is the successor company to Alcatel, Lucent, Western Eletric, Automatic Electric, Siemens and Stromberg-Carlson. All of these switches that are still in the PSTN are now supported by Nokia Networks. Nokia also owns Bell Labs, the former research and development arm of Western Electric.

Ericsson
Based in Sweden, makers of computer and telephone switch network products, focusing on the 5G wireless market.

Ribbon Communications
Ribbon Communications is result of the merger of Genband and Sonus Networks in 2017. Genband had purchased the intellectual property of the former Nortel Networks and is hence became the support company for Northern Telecom/Nortel switches. With the merger, Ribbon is now the successor 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.

SuperPages
The on-line directory operated by Thryv, Inc.

WhitePages.Com
The on-line directory operated by White Pages, Inc.

YellowPages.Com
The on-line business pages of Thryv, Inc.

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 residental 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.

Lumen Technologies
Lumen Technologies is the new corporate name for CenturyLink as of September 2020. Lumen/CenturyLink is an amalgamation of a number of companies: CenturyTel, Qwest/US West (and a number of western Baby Bells), Embarq/Sprint (local)/United Telephone, and CenTel.

Cincinnati Bell
An RBOC that covers the Cincinnati metro area.

Consolidated Communications
A medium sized independent communications company based in Illinois serving customers in 23 states, including a large portion of the former New England (Bell) Telephone (later NYNEX) that was acquired with the purchase of Fairport communications. Also includes the former North Pittsburgh Telephone Company of Gibsonia, PA.

Frontier Communications
A telecommunications-focused company providing wireline communications services in rural areas and small and medium-sized towns and cities. Starting out as Rochester Telephone Company, it has acquired the former Citizens Telephone Company, Commonwealth Telephone Company, and a large portion of the former GTE territory that it bought from Verizon, plus the entire Verizon territory (formerly C&P Telephone) in West Virginia.

Ziply Fiber
A newly formed company (2020) that purchased the territory of the financially struggling Frontier Communications in the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. This territory used to be Verizon, which was formerly GTE.

TDS Telecom
Medium sized communications provider (a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems) that provides service to primarily rural areas. Has purchased a number of small independent telcos in recent years.

Verizon
Verizon is the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE in 2000. Over the course of the last 20 years, Verizon has sold off major portions of its network to Frontier and Fairpoint. Frontier has in turn sold off some of its territory to Ziply Fiber, and Fairpoint was purchased by Consolidated Communications. The territory it has left is primarily the former Bell Atlantic territory, plus the former GTE territory in Virginia and Pennsylvania. States that Verizon still does business in: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

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.

Bell MTS
The former Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) merged with Bell Canada in 2017.

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 Government 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.

CenturyLink
The long distance arm CenturyLink. Includes the former LCI Long Distance Company that was merged into the now former Qwest.

Major Wireless Companies – USA

at&t Wireless
Provides 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 and Centennial Wireless in 2009. Acquired Cricket Wireless in 2014.

Bluegrass Cellular
A regional wireless carrier that serves Kentucky.

C Spire
Formerly known as Cellular South, Inc., is a privately owned technology company headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi. The company consists of three business divisions – C Spire Wireless, C Spire Home, and C Spire Business.

T-Mobile US
T-Mobile is the American division of Deutsche Telekom of Germany. Formerly known as Voicestream, it acquired Metro PCS in 2012, and merged with Sprint in 2020. Sprint in turn had merged with Nextel in 2005.

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

Verizon Wireless
The wireless division of Verizon, provides wireless 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. Merged with Alltel in 2009.

Small Independent Local Telephone Companies – USA

Nuvera – New Ulm, MN

Ringgold Telephone – Ringgold, GA

Pineland Telephone Cooperative – Pineland, GA

Wetaskiwin Telephone Company – Wetaskiwin, AB Canada

Park Region Telephone Company – Fergus Falls, MN

Kalona Cooperative Telephone Company – Kalona, IA

COLONTEL (Colton Telephone Company) – Colton, OR

ATC Broadband (Alma Telephone Co.) – Alma, GA

Southern Montana Telephone – Wisdom, MT

SKT (Southern Kansas Telephone Co.) – Clearwater, KS

Duo Broaband (Duo County Telephone Co.) – Jamestown, KY

AcenTek – AcenTek currently serves 22 communities in southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa, along with 11 communities in Michigan.

Brandenburg Telephone Co – Bradenburg, KY

Silver Star Communications (Silver Star Telephone Co.) – Freedom, WY

Marquette Adams Telephone Cooperative – Oxford, WI

Choctaw Telephone Co – Hallton, MO

Whidbey Telecom (Whidbey Telephone Co) – Coupeville, WA

CC Communications (Churchill County Telephone Co) – Fallon, NV

Nicholville Telephone Co – Nicholville, NY

Pembroke Telephone Co
Pembroke, GA

Ridgeville Telephone Co – Ridgevile, OH

New Paris Telephone – New Paris, IN

Palmerton Telephone Company – Palmerton, PA

Lynxx Networks (Lemonweir Valley Telcom) – Camp Douglas, WI

Monitor Telecom – Woodburn, OR

YK Communications (Ganado Telephone Co.) – Ganado, TX

MIDTEL (Middleburgh Telephone Co.) – Middleburgh, NY

ETC (Ellijay Telephone Co.) – Ellijay, GA

Solarus (formerly Wood County Telephone) – Wisconsin Rapids, WI

American Broadband – Missouri (formerly KLM Telephone Co.) – Rich Hill, MO

American Broadband – Nebraska – Blair, NE

TelAlaska -Seward, Nome and Unalaska, AK

Comporium Communications – Rock Hill, SC

Citizens Fiber (Citizens Telephone Co.) – Mammoth, PA

Scio Mutual Telephone – Scio, OR

Rye Telephone Co – Rye, CO

Farmers Telephone Co. Inc. – Pleasant View, CO

Beulahland Communications (Pine Drive Telephone Co.) – Beulah, CO

Waldron Telephone Co – Waldron, MI

DFT Communications (Dunkirk and Fredonia Telephone) – Fredonia, NY

Alaska Power & Telephone – Wasilla, AK

Wamego Telephone Co – Wamego, KS

Mt. Horab Telephone Co – Mt. Horeb, WI

Brooklyn Mutual Telephone Co – Brooklyn, IA

Central Scott Telephone Co. – Eldridge, IA

Citizens Mutual Telephone Co. – Bloomfield, IA

Colo Telephone Co. – Colo, IA

Cooperative Telephone Co – Victor, IA

Ellsworth Telephone Co – Ellsworth, IA

Farmers Telephone of Batavia IA – Batavia, IA

Farmers Telephone of Essex IA – Essex, IA

OmniTel Communications – Nora Springs, IA

Farmers Mutual Telephone Company – Stanton, IA

Grand River Mutual Telephone – Leon, IA

Heart of Iowa Communications – Union, IA

Liberty Communications (West Liberty Telephone) – West Liberty, IA

Premier Communications (Mutual Telephone Co) – Sioux Center, IA

Northwestern Telephone Cooperative – Havelock, IA

Olin Telephone Co. – Olin, IA

Oran Telephone Co. – Oran, IA

Readlyn Telephone Co. – Readlyn, IA

Scranton Telephone Co. – Scranton, IA

South Slope Coop Telephone – North Liberty, IA

Springville Co-operative Telephone – Springville, IA

Sully Telephone Association – Sully, IA

Van Buren Telephone Co – Van Buren, IA

Marne Elk Horn – Elk Horn, IA

Wellman Telephone Co – Wellman, IA

Westel Systems (West Iowa Telephone Co.) – Remsen, IA

Western Iowa Telephone Co – Lawton, IA

WTC Communications (Wilton Telephone Co.)
Wilton, IA

Winnebago Cooperative Telecom Association – Lake Mills, IA

Woolstock Mutual Telephone – Woolstock, IA

Norvado (Chequamegon Communications Cooperative Inc.) – Cable, WI and Phillips, WI

Molalla Telephone Co – Molalla, OR

Smithville Telephone Co – Ellettsville, IN

Northern Arkansas Telephone – Flippin, AR

Monroe Telephone Co – Monroe, OR

Hillsboro Telephone Co – Hillsboro, WI

Vernon Telephone Cooperative – Westby, WI

La Valle Telephone Cooperative – LaValle, WI

Cochrane Cooperative Telephone – Cochrane, WI

Coon Valley Farmers Telephone – Coon Valley, WI

Richland-Grant Telephone Cooperative, Inc. – Blue River, WI

Laurel Highland Total Communications – Indian Head, PA

D&P Communications (Deerfield Farmers Telephone) – Petersburg, MI

Blue Valley Communications – Home, KS

Tri-County Communications Co-Op – Strum, WI

Miscellaneous Links

What does your phone number spell?
What does your phone number spell?

Glass Insulators Home Page
Glass insulators collectors page

DialABC
Find out what your phone number spells