PLDT Inc. (TEL), formerly Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, was incorporated on November 28, 1928 following the merger of four telephone companies under US ownership. In 1967, effective control of TEL was sold by General Telephone and Electronics Corporation to a group of Filipino businessmen. Over the period 1998 to 2011, Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corporation, Metro Pacific Resources Inc.  (both of which are Philippine affiliates of First Pacific Company), NTT DOCOMO, INC., NTT Communications Corporation, and JG Summit Group acquired significant ownership of the common shares of TEL.  On July 29, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the change in corporate name to the present one.