On July 9, 1877, a functional telephone was produced and the Bell Telephone Company became a reality. One year later, Western Union Telegraph Company entered the communications business. Bell then filed a lawsuit for patent infringement against Western Union and won the case in 1879. When the Bell patent expired in 1893 and 1894, there was a formation of more than 6,000 independent telephone companies. In 1900, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) was established as the parent company of the Bell Company. AT&T/Bell became a monopoly buying out some of the independent companies and forcing others out of business. In 1877, the federal Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) began regulating communications and setting standards. By 1910, this included all wire and radio communications as well as interstate telephone business. Even with the enactment of the Communications Act of 1934 (An Act to provide for the regulation of interstate and foreign communication by wire or radio, and for other purposes), the FCC became the primary federal authority in the telecommunications industry.
             By 1967, there were exactly 200 million telephones in operation around the world, half of which were in the United States alone. With the Carterfone (caused by the desire of Carter Electronics of Dallas to interconnect private mobile radio systems with the nationwide exchange and message toll telephone network) decision in 1968, the FCC finally permitted non-Bell equipment to be attached to the telephone network. This marked the beginning of the end of telephone networks and services provided by a single dominant supplier. Other companies besides AT&T could now attach their equipment to the network. In 1969, MCI was granted a lease to install and operate an interstate radio link between Chicago and St. Louis, and also allowed to lease private line service along this link, putting itself directly in competition with AT&T and Western Union.
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