Cellular One is the trademarked brand name that licenses services (radio frequencies for telecommunications) used by several cellular service providers in the United States. The brand was sold to Trilogy Partners by AT&T in 2008 shortly after AT&T had completed its acquisition of Dobson Communications. Cellular One was originally the trade name of one of the first mobile telephone service providers.
In 1977, the American Radio Telephone Service and Motorola formed Cellular One to offer services to the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area. Cellular service began in the Baltimore/DC area in December 1983.[1]
In July 1986, it was announced that Metromedia Inc. would sell its 55 percent stake in Cellular One to Southwestern Bell.[2] Southwestern Bell later joined into a partnership with McCaw Communications and Vanguard Cellular Systems called Cellular One Group, which the company's stated would help create a unified cellular network.[3] Cellular One Group was eventually opened to include all A-side providers. Under the US AMPS allocation, A-side providers were independent wireless operators, while B-side providers were usually affiliates of the local landline telephone company.[citation needed] By 1995, Cellular One affiliates had over 5 million customers and affiliates' towers that served approximately 69% of the US population.[4] AT&T purchased McCaw Cellular in 1994; shortly thereafter, AT&T renamed the former McCaw providers "AT&T Wireless" and dropped out of the partnership. Western Wireless joined the partnership in 1999, and in 2001, the Cellular One group name became the sole property of Western Wireless.[citation needed]
Western Wireless operated under the Cellular One brand prior to being purchased by Alltel in August 2005.
The Cellular One brand name was also used by Dobson Cellular in various rural markets in the continental US and in Alaska. In December 2005, Dobson purchased the rights to the Cellular One name from Alltel. However, their services were completely unrelated. Dobson used a TDMA and GSM network; Western Wireless used a GSM, AMPS, TDMA and CDMA network. As of 15 November 2007, Dobson was acquired by AT&T Inc., except several areas still operated under the Cellular One brand name.[clarification needed] The Cellular One brand was sold to Trilogy Partners as a result of the terms of the acquisition agreement.
| Market | Name | Web site | Holding company | Owners | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico | Cellular One of East Arizona | cellularoneonline.com | Smith Bagley Inc. | Elizabeth Frawley Bagley and children[5] | |
| Louisiana and Texas | Cellular One | cellonenation.com | Central Louisiana Cellular, LLC, and Texas 10 LLC | Alta Communications[6] | |
| Southwestern New York | CellOne | cellone.com | Buffalo-Lake Erie Wireless Systems Co., LLC | Dr. Michael C. Gelfand and family | More territory covered under the Blue Wireless brand |
Verizon properties Originally acquired by Alltel prior to the January 2009 merger
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