The premises-vs.-network separation in the United States, insofar as it affected the former Bell System, was independent of AT&T's divestiture of the local telephone companies on January 1, 1984. However, CPE interconnection and Bell System divestiture were part of a larger restructuring of the domestic telecommunications industry which took place during the 1980s and are commonly, if inaccurately, seen as one event. The historical Bell System domination of the United States telecommunications industry was also the de facto standard for other telephone companies such as GTE and other “independent” telephone companies.