Ma Bell's children reach out

Ameritech has joined the race to capture telecommunications business beyond its borders. The Midwestern regional telephone company and Satellite Business Systems (SBS) announced this week that subsidiaries signed a five-year agreement to provide tenant services in office buildings. Most of these buildings would be outside the five-state region served by Ameritech's operating companies, officials said. This follows the strategy of other regional phone companies, which also have nationwide aspirations. US West, for example, hopes to attract consulting work in telecommunications and office automation.

Ameritech's move puts it into the fast-growing business of turning office buildings into communications centers. Its subsidiary, Ameritech Communications, will provide some $100 million in telecommunications equipment and then maintain it. RealCom, the SBS subsidiary, will market those telephone and other computer-oriented services.