Telephone company

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A telephone company (or telco) provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications. Most of the largest telcos are or were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies. These monopolies are often referred to, primarily in Europe, as PTTs.

Telcos are also known as common carriers and local exchange carriers. With the advent of cellular telephony, telcos now include wireless carriers, or network operators.

Most telcos now also function as ISPs, and the distinction between telco and ISP may disappear completely over time, as the current trend for supplier convergence in the industry continues.

On the original Saturday Night Live, guest host comedian Lily Tomlin satirized the attitude of the Bell System, which held monopoly control of the telephone industry in America, with a skit in which she played one of her trademark characters, telephone operator Ernestine. In the skit, she disconnects the phone service for a large area, and utters the now-famous quote:

"We don't care.
We don't have to.
We're the phone company."

Telcos include:

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