In the beginning, the U.S. telephone industry was made up of the Bell System and hundreds of independent telephone exchanges across the country. As the industry grew, the relationship between the Bell System and the independents became increasingly complicated. When independents pursued the right to be interconnected to the long-distance network, the Bell System responded with litigation or by purchasing the small companies outright.

The independents realized that they had to cooperate on a national scale to be an effective force. In May 1897, a group of independent telephone executives met in Chicago and organized the National Telephone Association (later changed to United States Independent Telephone Association). The following month, June 1897, the association held its first convention in Detroit, attended by some 400 independent telephone people.