Even more confusing is exactly what all the initials stand for. SBC, which used to stand for Southwestern Bell Communications, doesn't stand for that anymore. Years ago, the corporation decided that since it had gobbled a lot of companies that weren't in the Southwest, the letters SBC would no longer stand for anything besides SBC.
About the same time, AT&T decided that its letters didn't stand for American Telephone and Telegraph anymore, because there was no longer any telegraph. They just stood for AT&T.
That means that one company whose letters don't stand for anything is paying what some industry analysts predict will be more than $100 million to change its name to another company whose letters don't stand for anything.
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