In United States
telecommunicationTelecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
law,
Modification of Final Judgment (
MFJ) is the August 1982 agreement approved by the court (
consent decreeA consent decree is a final, binding judicial decree or judgment memorializing a voluntary agreement between parties to a suit in return for withdrawal of a criminal charge or an end to a civil litigation...
) settling
United States v. AT&TUnited States v. AT&T was the antitrust case in the United States that led to the 1984 Bell System divestiture, the breakup of the old American Telephone & Telegraph into the new, seven regional Bell operating companies s and the much smaller new AT&T.In the 1970s, the Federal Communications...
, a landmark antitrust suit, originally filed on January, 14, 1949 and modifying the previous Final Judgment of January 24, 1956. Entered into between the
United States Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
and the
American Telephone & TelegraphAT&T Corp., originally American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American telecommunications company that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies. AT&T is the oldest telecommunications company...
Company (AT&T) the MFJ, after modification and upon approval of the
United States District Court for the District of ColumbiaThe United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...
, required the
Bell System divestitureThe Bell System divestiture, or the breakup of AT&T, was initiated by the filing in 1974 by the U.S. Department of Justice of an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. The case, United States v...
of the Bell Operating Companies from AT&T.
The exact term for the MFJ is given under the general definition of
local access and transport areaLocal access and transport area is a term used in U.S. telecommunications regulation. It represents a geographical area of the United States under the terms of the that precipitated the breakup of the original AT&T into the "Baby Bells" or created since that time for wireline...
, a term used in U.S. telecommunications regulation for geographic areas in which local telephone companies are allowed to provide service, the term being used is
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