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| Formerly | Central Services Organization, Inc. (1983) Bell Communications Research, Inc. (1984-1999) |
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| Company type | Joint venture |
| Industry | Telecom Research |
| Predecessor | Bell Telephone Laboratories |
| Founded | October 1983; 41 years ago (1983-10) |
| Headquarters | Bridgewater, New Jersey, U.S. |
Key people | Richard Jacowleff (CEO) |
| Products | Fraud & Identity Numbering Messaging Network & Operations Industry Registries |
| Owners | Koch Equity (2024-present) Ericsson (2012–2024) Francisco Partners (16.7%, 2017–present)[1] |
Number of employees | 500+ (2017) |
| Website | iconectiv |
iconectiv supplies communications providers with network planning and management services. The company’s cloud-based information as a service network and operations management and numbering solutions span trusted communications, digital identity management[2] and fraud prevention.[3] Known asBellcore after its establishment in the United States in 1983 as part of the break-up of theBell System, the company's name changed toTelcordia Technologies after a change of ownership in 1996. The business was acquired byEricsson in 2012, then restructured and rebranded as iconectiv in 2013.
A major architect of the United States telecommunications system, the company pioneered many services, includingcaller ID,call waiting,mobile number portability, andtoll-free telephone (800) service. It also pioneered the prepaid charging system and theIntelligent Network.
Headquartered inBridgewater, New Jersey (U.S.), iconectiv provides network and operations management, numbering, registry and fraud prevention services for the global telecommunications industry. It provides numbering services in more than a dozen countries, including serving as the Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA) for the United States. In that capacity, iconectiv manages theNumber Portability Administration Center (NPAC), the system that supports the implementation of local number portability.
iconectiv was established on October 20, 1983, as Central Services Organization[4] as part of the 1982Modification of Final Judgment that broke up theBell System. It later received the name Bell Communications Research. NicknamedBellcore, it was a consortium established by theRegional Holding Companies upon their separation from AT&T. Since AT&T retainedBell Laboratories, the operating companies desired a separate research and development facility. Bellcore, thetenth company to register an Internet domain name incomTLD, provided joint research and development, was involved in standards setting, training, and centralized government point-of-contact functions for its co-owners, the seven Regional Holding Companies that were themselves divested from AT&T as holding companies for the 22 local Bell Operating Companies.
Bellcore's initial staff and corporate culture were drawn from the nearby Bell Laboratories locations in northern New Jersey, plus additional staff from AT&T and regional operating companies. The company originally had its headquarters inLivingston with dedication byNew Jersey GovernorThomas Kean in 1985, but moved its headquarters toMorristown a decade later. Bellcore also operated the former Bell System Center for Technical Education inLisle, Illinois.
In 1996, the company was provisionally acquired byScience Applications International Corporation (SAIC).[5] The sale was closed one year later, following a regulatory approval process that covered every U.S. state individually. Since the divested company no longer had any ownership connection with theRegional Bell Operating Companies (Baby Bells), the name was changed toTelcordia Technologies in 1999.[6] The headquarters was moved toPiscataway, New Jersey.[7]
The former headquarters campus in Morristown and its offices and laboratories in Red Bank, New Jersey, are former Bell Labs locations that were transferred to Telcordia.
Equal stakes in the company were sold in March 2005 toProvidence Equity Partners andWarburg Pincus.[8]
On June 14, 2011,Ericsson announced an agreement to acquire Telcordia for $1.15 billion.[9] On January 12, 2012, Telcordia became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ericsson.[10] On June 15, 2011, Ericsson announced the completion of the purchase fromprivate-equity firmsProvidence Equity Partners andWarburg Pincus,[11][12] with the goal to pursue industry trends that includemobile broadband,managed services/outsourcing and globalOSS/BSS transformation.[13] The acquisition, which officially closed on January 12, 2012,[14] added about 2,600 employees to Ericsson's staff.[15] On June 4, 2012, Telcordia and its products were officiallyrebranded as Ericsson.[16]
In the process of integration, Telcordia's Advanced Technology Solutions business unit, the company's research arm, was rebranded asApplied Communication Sciences, and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ericsson that operated independently on day-to-day operations pursuant to a proxy structure mandated by the U.S. government.[17] In October 2012, Applied Communication Sciences relocated its headquarters toBasking Ridge, New Jersey, occupying the former headquarters of AT&T Wireless.
In February 2013, Ericsson launchediconectiv for its interconnection business.[18] During this time, Ericsson maintained its corporate presence inPlano, Texas and iconectiv's corporate presence in New Jersey. In July 2017, iconectiv moved its headquarters fromPiscataway toBridgewater,New Jersey.[19]
In August 2024, Ericson announced a sale of iconnectiv to Koch Equity for $1 billion.[20]
On August 10, 2017,Francisco Partners announced a $200 million investment in iconectiv and received a 16.7 percent ownership stake in the company.[21]
In 2015, iconectiv won a contract procured by theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate theNumber Portability Administration Center (NPAC).[22] The service had been operated byNeustar Inc. for 18 years. iconectiv completed the transition from Neustar on May 29, 2018 becoming the Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA) for the United States.[23]
iconectiv was awarded the contract from CTIA to provideCommon Short Code (CSC) Registry Services, effective January 1, 2016.[24]
In 2019, the Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority (STI-GA) selected iconnectiv as the U.S. STI Policy Administrator for supervising measures to ensure voice calls have accuratecaller ID.[25]
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40°35′13″N74°37′33″W / 40.58694°N 74.62583°W /40.58694; -74.62583
