NSTAR, through its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution, transmission, and sale of energy in Massachusetts. The company supplies electricity at retail in the City of Boston and 80 surrounding cities and towns, such as Cambridge, New Bedford, Plymouth, and the geographic area comprising Cape Cod and Marthas Vineyard. It distributes natural gas in central and eastern Massachusetts, including the Hyde Park area of Boston, Cambridge, Dedham, Framingham, New Bedford, Plymouth, Somerville, and Worcester. The company also involves in the telecommunications business comprising installation, ownership, operation, and maintenance of a wholesale transport network for other telecommunications service providers in the metropolitan Boston area to deliver voice, video, data, and Internet services to customers, as well as in liquefied natural gas service business. As of December 31, 2009, it served approximately 1.4 million customers, including approximately 1.1 million electric distribution customers in 81 communities and approximately 300,000 natural gas distribution customers in 51 communities. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.