Telephone calls outside of the local area provided for by these companies were patched through long-distance networks that were, until de-regulation, operation mainly by AT&T.
After de-regulation, these regional Bell operating companies continued providing the same technical services despite being under a different type of corporate structure.
Many communities in the United States had local telephone companies and in rural areas, up until around the early 1980s (perhaps later in some cases) party lines were commonplace.
Local telephone companies more recently become involved in providing Internet by DSL and dial-up services.
The role of the local phone company includes serving a given community and interfacing with the large long-distance carriers.