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At least until the anti-trust breakup of the Bell System in the late 20th century, the term "Yellow pages" was a trademark for commercial directories and the commercial portions of the by-commercial-category sections of directories that also include by-name listings; directories were published on behalf of the component Bell companies by the Reuben H. Donnelly publishing company. Then and since, phone companies or their agents sell the right to place advertisements within the same category, next to the basic listings; since the Bell breakup, other companies (sometimes telephone companies who provide local telephone service only in areas not covered by the directories) publish directories that compete with those of local telephone companies for advertising business.
A business telephone number directory named the Yellow Pages was first produced in 1966 by the nationalised General Post Office for the Brighton area, and was rolled out nationwide in 1973. The directory continued to be distributed to all telephone subscribers also when the General Post Office was split from the later privatised British Telecom (BT), and also when the department producing the directory became a stand alone subsidiary of BT, named Yell, in the 1990s. Yell was bought by venture capitalists in 2001, and continues distributing the directory.
In 20032003 is a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar), and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Summary Perhaps the defining global event of the year 2003 was the Invasion of Iraq launched by the U Yell was floated on the Stock Exchange. After the one year 'no competition' clause expired B.T. re-entered the market with 'The Phone Book', the 'all in one' offering which contains the traditional alphabetical domestic and business listings as well as a new classified section.
Yell's main competitor in the UK is Thomson LocalThomson Local is published in the UK by Thomson Directories Ltd which in turn is now owned by Seat Pagine Gialle S. Thomson Local is a focused local area directory which has continually innovated with colour, knock-out white adds, etc. They also pioneered which offers a more relevant, focused local directory in tune with consumer needs.
Australia's business directory was first published in its own volume in 1973 as the Yellow Pages. The directory was originally produced by the Postmaster General, and continued to be produced by the government, as the telephone system transferred to Telecom Australia and now TelstraTelstra Corporation is an Australian telecommunications company, holding a superdominant position in landline telephone services and with a large share of mobile telecommunications, domestic consumer (including dial-up access and " broadband" cable modem,. Today, the Yellow Pages is produced by Sensis , a wholly-owned advertising subsidiary of Telstra.
The Yellow Pages have for many years produced some of Australia's most popular television commercialThis article describes the situation in the United States. Other countries have had similar experiences, but most had (and have) major state-funded broadcasters which carry little or no advertising. In many countries television was developed as a culturals, often highlighting the perils of not placing an advertisement in the directory on time. The most famous of these immortalised the phrase "Not Happy Jan" in the Australian vernacular.