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AT&T

American telecommunications company

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One AT&T Plaza - AT&T headquarters in Dallas
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AT&T has over 240 million subscribers worldwide, and its operations are split into two main segments: Communications, which offers wireless services, broadband options, and business solutions, along with Latin America, which provides wireless networking in Mexico. Even after spinning off DirecTV, AT&T still offers bundling deals with it. While AT&T traces its history to the original company founded in 1885, the modern version began on January 1, 1984, as Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC Communications) after the Bell System breakup. The original AT&T was created by American Bell Telephone on March 5, 1885, as a long-distance subsidiary, and later merged with its corporate parent in 1889. Over time, AT&T developed a natural monopoly in telephony, dominating telecommunications for much of the 20th century and earning the nickname "Ma Bell".

The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T under the Sherman Antitrust Act, arguing it held unfair advantages over other telecom companies through the Bell System. Despite fighting the case, AT&T settled in 1982 to break up the Bell System into seven independent companies. AT&T was allowed to retain its long-lines and technology divisions and it ventured into new industries. SBC, which originated from ADT Inc., was the smallest "Baby Bell" and it grew by acquiring Pacific Telesis and Ameritech. AT&T later spun off Lucent Technologies along with its wireless and broadband units, leading to an uncertain future. In 2005, SBC Communications bought AT&T Corporation and adopted its branding to become the modern AT&T.

Since reforming, AT&T bought BellSouth, reuniting four of the seven Baby Bells and taking control of Cingular Wireless (now AT&T Mobility). AT&T also shifted toward content distribution by launching U-verse TV, acquiring DirecTV, and expanding into entertainment with the purchase of Time Warner. These moves were intended to transform AT&T into a vertically integrated media-telecom giant, but lackluster synergies led to DirecTV being sold to TPG Inc., and WarnerMedia merging with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery. Today, AT&T is focusing its efforts on 5G connectivity and fiber networks.

Historical overview

Origin and growth (1877–1981)

After patenting the telephone on March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell and his associates co-founded the Bell Telephone Company on July 9, 1877, with members like Thomas A. Watson, Gardiner Greene Hubbard and Thomas A. Sanders. Although Bell was viewed as the company's founder, he lost interest in telephony by the 1890s and sold off his stock holdings. Bell Telephone focused on building local telephone exchanges and oversaw the first commercial exchange in New Haven, Connecticut. Bell Telephone expanded quickly, and over 700 telephones in use across the country by 1877. An early rival was Western Union, then the leading telegraph company, which also owned Western Electric, a major equipment manufacturer. In 1880, construction began on what would eventually become AT&T Long Lines. Bell acquired Western Electric in 1881 and established the American Telephone and Telegraph Company on March 3, 1885.

Theodore Newton Vail served as the company's first President but he stepped down after a few years. When Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent expired, more than 6,000 telephony companies emerged, resulting in a major downturn for Bell Telephone. On December 30, 1899, American Bell transferred its subsidiaries to AT&T, giving the long-distance company control over Western Electric, Bell Laboratories, Western Union, the Bell System, and the international holdings of Northern Electric, IBT, and Bell Canada. AT&T controlled over 80% of the U.S. telephone system market by 1907 and Theodore Newton Vail rejoined the company as its President. Vail negotiated with competitors, charging them fees for connecting to AT&T's long-distance network. These practices led the Justice Department to attempt to breakup AT&T, but a settlement was reached through the Kingsbury Commitment on December 13, 1913. It brought federal oversight into AT&T and led its Bell System monopoly to become federally regulated.

In 1921 AT&T served over 64% of the nearly 14 million U.S. telephones and its dominance continued into the 1930s, with its market share reaching 83% of all U.S. telephones, 98% of long-distance lines, and 90% of equipment manufacturing. Through this, AT&T became a natural monopoly, with each of its subsidiaries giving it an unrivaled position in telecommunications. Federal oversight sustained AT&T's monopoly through the Great Depression, World War II, and the postwar era, but following the 1974 modification of the final judgement, the DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. The case, United States of America v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., et al., lasted for nearly eight years until AT&T settled in 1982 in exchange for divesting the Bell System monopoly. The Bell System was separated into seven independently operated telecom companies on January 1, 1984.

Breakup and reformation (1982–2004)

AT&T Corporation

In 1982, U.S. regulators broke up the AT&T monopoly, requiring AT&T to divest its local subsidiaries, which it did by grouping them into seven individual companies. These new companies were known as Regional Bell Operating Companies, or more informally, Baby Bells. Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC) was one of the companies created by the breakup of AT&T Corp. (Later renamed SBC Communications Inc.)

AT&T continued to operate long-distance services but faced increasing competition from competitors such as MCI and Sprint.

AT&T soon started a series of acquisitions, including the 1987 acquisition of Metromedia mobile business and the acquisition of several cable companies in the early 1990s. Meanwhile, in the latter half of the 1990s, SBC acquired several other telecommunications companies, including two Baby Bells (Pacific Telesis Group and Ameritech Corporation), while selling its cable business. In early 1997 C. Michael Armstrong was named CEO, and Armstrong appointed John Zeglis as president later in that same year. By 1998, the company was in the top 15 of the Fortune 500, and by 1999, when Zeglis assumed the positions of chairman and CEO of AT&T Wireless, AT&T was part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (lasting through 2015). Zeglis ended his service as president of AT&T in 2001 and resigned from his positions in AT&T Wireless in 2004.

Purchase of former parent and acquisitions (2005–2013)

On November 18, 2005, SBC Communications purchased its former parent, AT&T Corporation, for $16 billion. After this purchase, SBC adopted the better-known AT&T name and brand, with the original AT&T Corporation still existing as the long-distance landline subsidiary of the merged company. The current AT&T Inc. claims the original AT&T Corporation's history (dating to 1877) as its own, but retains SBC's pre-2005 corporate structure and stock price history. As well, all SEC filings before 2005 are under SBC, not AT&T.

AT&T made an attempt in 2011 to purchase T-Mobile for a $39 billion stock and cash offer. The bid was withdrawn after the takeover company was faced with significant regulatory and legal hurdles, along with heavy resistance from the U.S. government. As per the original acquisition agreement, T-Mobile received $3 billion in cash as well as access to $1 billion worth of AT&T-held wireless spectrum.

In September 2013, AT&T announced it would expand into Latin America through a collaboration with América Móvil. In December 2013, AT&T announced plans to sell its Connecticut wireline operations to Stamford-based Frontier Communications. AT&T acquired BellSouth Corporation on December 29, 2006, following FCC approval. The transaction consolidated ownership and management of Cingular Wireless. AT&T rebranded its wireless retail stores from Cingular to AT&T in January 2007.

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