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TDS history
TDS company history timeline
With help from his father-in-law, a corporate attorney, the new company was incorporated on January 1, 1969, as Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.
In 1969 TDS bought out six more companies, five of which were in Wisconsin.
For these reasons, TDS abruptly shifted its acquisition activity to the Northeast, and during 1970 snapped up five companies in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.
The company also outgrew its financial resources and in 1971 issued more than $4 million in long term debentures.
In July of 1974 the company reorganized into groups comprising the Wisconsin, Northeast, Southeast, and Mid-Central regions, and an "Assigned" group for companies outside those regions.
The company acquired its first cable franchise in April of 1975, when it took over the Calhoun City Telephone Company in Mississippi.
Nevertheless, TDS finished 1978 as the twelfth largest telephone company in the United States, serving 173,500 customers.
Cellular telephones were first tested by Illinois Bell in 1979.
Carlson, who turned 65 in 1981, relinquished his post as president to his son Ted, who bolstered the company's engineering group by hiring experienced cable television and radio systems managers.
In 1983, when Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) had its headquarters in Chicago, it created a subsidiary called United States Cellular Corp., which grew into one of the 10 largest wireless telecommunications companies in the country.
These acquisitions helped TDS to amass more than 250,000 customers in 22 states by 1983.
Cable operations were centralized in 1984 under the newly created TDS Cable Communications Company.
TDS made the development of its cellular unit a major priority in March 1985, when it decided to sell its cable television holdings and devote its full attention to United States Cellular Corporation.
When LeRoy Carlson turned 70 in 1986, he relinquished the title of chief executive officer to his son Ted.
In 1988 United States Cellular Corporation was active in 31 regions, including Wichita, Atlantic City, and Columbia, Missouri.
The consolidated customer units of TDS topped one million in 1993.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 introduces the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) concept, allowing new CLECs to compete against Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs), using certain network elements of the local incumbent provider.
For the 19th time since 2006 United States Cellular awarded “Highest Wireless Network Quality Performance in the North Central Region” by J.D. Power.
TEAM Technologies, acquired in 2010, becomes part of Vital Support Systems.
United States Cellular announces that it will begin offering Apple products later in 2013.
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TDS competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Cellular | 1983 | $4.2B | 5,000 | - |
| Acxiom | 1969 | $617.0M | 3,380 | 1,989 |
| Macfadden | 1987 | $15.0M | 200 | - |
| CSC Holdings LLC | 1985 | $7.5B | 15,451 | 177 |
| Communication Technology Services | 1990 | $85.9M | 365 | 21 |
| Eurocom | - | - | 20 | - |
| Kratos Defense & Security Solutions | 1994 | $1.1B | 3,300 | 142 |
| Telefónica Ecuador | - | $50.8B | 113,182 | - |
| CCIA | 1972 | $540,000 | 50 | 1 |
| Telenor | 1885 | $14.7B | 10,002 | - |
TDS history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of TDS, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about TDS. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at TDS. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by TDS. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of TDS and its employees or that of Zippia.
TDS may also be known as or be related to Telephone and Data Systems Inc, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., Telephone & Data Systems, Inc., Telephone and Data Systems and Tds™.