 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| NASDAQ: TCOMA | |
| Industry | Cable television |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Fate | Purchased by AT&T Corporation for broadband Internet services Cable television systems sold to Cablevision, Comcast, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications |
| Successor | AT&T Broadband |
| Headquarters | Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
Key people | John Malone |
Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) was a cable television provider in the United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone.
The company was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and Community Television, Inc., two firms with common ownership.[1] The companies merged in 1968 and operations moved to Denver, taking the name Tele-Communications Inc. It was the largest cable operator in the United States at one time.
After going public in 1970, the company grew rapidly, and became the top cable provider in the United States. After a failed merger attempt with Bell Atlantic in 1994,[2] it was purchased in 1999 by AT&T, whose cable television assets in select markets were later acquired by Charter Communications, Cox Communications, and then Cablevision and Comcast Corporation.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
chron58was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ramirez, Anthony (24 February 1994). "Partners in a Failed Merger, 2 Very Different Companies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-24.