A trade association of United States telecommunications carriers and suppliers, the USTA lobbies Congress, regulatory agencies, and other policy makers on behalf of its membership. USTA has its roots in the National Telephone Association (1897), which later changed its name to the United States Independent Telephone Association (USITA) and represented the interests of independent (i.e., non-Bell) telephone companies.When the break-up of the Bell System was decided in 1982, USITA admitted the newly divested Baby Bells as full members and changed its name to USTA. See Appendix A for contact information.