Kingsbury Commitment

Following a government antitrust complaint in 1913, AT & T decided to Kingsbury Commitment in which AT & T would sell their $ 30 million Western Union stock, allow competitors to interconnect with their system, and not to acquire other independent companies without the authorization of the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC).

The Bell brand pictured here was used from 1921 to 1939 by both AT & T operating companies and regional co-brand themselves under a single brand Bell System. The name of the regional operating company was placed where "name of associated company" appears in this version of the model of the brand. Bell system telephones and related equipment were made by Western Electric, a wholly owned subsidiary of AT & T. Member telephone companies paid a fixed fraction of their income on license at Bell Labs.