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76-584: AT&T agreed to divest its local exchange service operating companies, effective January 1, 1984. The group of local operating companies were split into seven independent Regional Bell Operating Companies, which became known as the Baby Bells . RBOCs were originally known as Regional Holding Companies (RHCs). Three companies still exist that have an RBOC as a predecessor: AT&T , Verizon , and Lumen Technologies (formerly CenturyTel and CenturyLink). Some other companies are holding onto smaller segments of

152-492: 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 The bid was withdrawn after the takeover company was faced with significant regulatory and legal hurdles, along with heavy resistance from the U.S. government.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

228-583: A 2015 base year. This science-based target is aligned with Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. GTE GTE Corporation , formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System . The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing further back than that, until 2000, when it

304-774: A Canadian carrier, until Verizon completely divested itself of its shares in 2004. In the Caribbean, CONTEL purchased several major stakes in the newly independent countries of the British West Indies (namely in Barbados , Jamaica , and Trinidad and Tobago ). Prior to GTE's merger with Bell Atlantic, GTE also maintained an interactive television service joint-venture called GTE mainStreet (sometimes also called mainStreet USA) as well as an interactive entertainment and video game publishing operation, GTE Interactive Media . In 1934, General Telephone Corporation

380-594: 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. In late 2014, AT&T purchased Mexican cellular carrier Iusacell , and two months later, it purchased

456-505: A company created following FairPoint's acquisition, was an operating company wholly owned by Northern New England Telephone Operations. In December 2016 FairPoint was purchased by Consolidated Communications , and the combined company operates under the Consolidated Communications name. In 2010, Frontier Communications acquired Frontier West Virginia , one of the original Bell Operating Companies formerly known as

532-503: A lawsuit for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division to block the merger with Time Warner, saying it "will harm competition, result in higher bills for consumers and less innovation." On June 12, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that the merger could go forward. The merger closed two days afterwards, with Time Warner becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. A day later,

608-515: A partnership between Verizon Communications and Vodafone until 2013). The company has largely maintained its lead over the years through further acquisitions (notably, of Alltel Wireless and TracFone) and through organic growth. surpassing T-Mobile and even AT&T in wireless. Over time much of its wireline area was spun off including northern New England to Consolidated Communications and other areas with landline businesses to both Frontier and FairPoint Communications . Lumen Technologies , Inc.

684-479: A project to create satellite stations. A few years later, the company's international branch was replaced by a GTE products company in 1976. Their products company remained until 1979. In 1979, GTE purchased Telenet to establish a presence in the growing packet switching data communications business. GTE Telenet was later included in the US Telecom joint venture. In December 1983 Vanderslice stepped down as

760-547: A protracted bidding war with rival RBOC Qwest, Verizon announced that it would acquire long-distance company MCI . The Verizon and MCI merger closed on January 6, 2006. Bell Atlantic Mobile became the largest wireless carrier in the United States through its merger with NYNEX Mobile, its acquisition of Frontier Cellular, its subsequent merger with GTE Mobile, and its joint venture with Vodafone (consolidating its AirTouch business into Bell Atlantic Mobile). The latter two transactions effectively formed Verizon Wireless (which remained

836-478: A separate entity, selling a 30% stake to TPG Capital (owners of Astound Broadband cable), while retaining a 70% stake in the new standalone company. The deal was closed on August 2, 2021. On May 17, 2021, AT&T announced plans to relinquish its equity interest in WarnerMedia , and have it merge with Discovery, Inc. in a US$ 43 billion deal to establish a new media company. Electronic Arts , which

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912-588: A share of the rights to the Bell trademark. After divestiture, AT&T Corp. was prohibited from using the Bell name or logo (with the notable exception of AT&T's Bell Laboratories ) and those trademarks which would be shared by the RBOCs and the two companies AT&T partially owned. Cincinnati Bell was the last RBOC to hold the "Bell" name, but it rebranded as Altafiber in March of 2022. Additionally, Bell Canada ,

988-442: A specialty option. On April 24, 2020, AT&T announced that effective July 1, 2020, company COO John Stankey would replace Randall L. Stephenson as CEO of AT&T. It was also acknowledged that AT&T's acquisitions of DirecTV and Time Warner had by this point resulted in a massive debt burden of $ 200 billion for the company. As a result of planned cost cutting programs, the sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

1064-475: A specified geographic area. After the Modification of Final Judgment , the resulting Baby Bells were originally named: Prior to 1984, AT&T Corp. also held investments in two smaller and otherwise independent companies, Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone (SNET). Following the 1984 breakup, these became fully independent as well. All nine local-exchange holding companies were assigned

1140-632: A subsidiary, named the General Telephone and Electric Corporation, formed in 1930 with the Transamerica Corporation and British investors to compete against ITT. In 1959, Sylvania Electric Products merged into General Telephone and was renamed to General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (GT&E). Power also obtained the purchases of multiple companies. such as Lenkurt Electric Company, Inc and Peninsular Telephone Company. In 1960, GT&E International Incorporated

1216-623: A wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. Cingular was then rebranded as AT&T Mobility . AT&T Inc. also acquired Time Warner in 2016, with the proposed merger confirmed on June 12, 2018 and the aim of making AT&T Inc. the largest and controlling shareholder of Time Warner, which it then rebranded as WarnerMedia in 2018. The company later withdrew its equity stake in WarnerMedia in 2022 and merged it with Discovery, Inc. to create Warner Bros. Discovery , divesting itself of its media arm. The current AT&T reconstitutes most of

1292-556: The Washington Post on May 10 confirmed the figure of 12 payments, which had begun three days after the President was sworn into office . AT&T confirmed the report the same day. The report from The Washington Post , as well as additional reporting from Bloomberg , revealed the payments had been made for Cohen to "provide guidance" relating to the attempted $ 85 billion merger with Time Warner , to gain information on

1368-604: The American Telephone and Telegraph Company , is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas , Texas . It is the world's third largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest wireless carrier in the United States behind Verizon and T-Mobile . As of 2023, AT&T was ranked 13th on the Fortune 500 rankings of

1444-709: The Asia Pacific ; its regional headquarters is located in Hong Kong. The company is also active in Mexico, and on November 7, 2014, it was announced that Mexican carrier Iusacell would be acquired by AT&T. The acquisition was approved in January 2015. On April 30, 2015, AT&T acquired wireless operations Nextel Mexico from NII Holdings (now AT&T Mexico). AT&T's current board of directors as of March 2024: The current management as of March 2024 includes: According to OpenSecrets , AT&T

1520-473: The Baby Bells , Ameritech sold some of its Wisconsin landlines to CenturyTel , in 1998; BellSouth sold some of its lines to MebTel, during the 2000s; US West sold many historically Bell landlines to Lynch Communications and Pacific Telecom , in the 1990s; Verizon sold many of its New England lines to FairPoint in 2008, and its West Virginia operations to Frontier Communications in 2010. On October 25, 2014, Frontier Communications took over control of

1596-767: The Kingsbury Commitment , throughout most of the twentieth century. This monopoly was known as the Bell System , and during this period, AT&T was also known by the nickname Ma Bell . 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. AT&T continued to operate long-distance services but faced increasing competition from competitors such as MCI and Sprint . Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC)

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1672-400: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) follows in its rulemaking processes. The FCC would have to act in a more transparent way as a result of this bill, forced to accept public input about regulations. AT&T's Executive Vice President of Federal Relations, Tim McKone, said that the bill's "much needed institutional reforms will help arm the agency with the tools to keep pace with

1748-491: The "Bell" names; however, they have been doing business under other names since 2002. Many of these names are still listed with the US Patent and Trademark Office as current trademarks, since these names are still considered in use. Many of these companies have since merged; by the end of 2000, there were only three of the original Baby Bells left in the United States. After the 1984 breakup, part of AT&T Corp.'s Bell Labs

1824-640: The 20th century, AT&T had a monopoly on phone service in the United States. The company was formally rebranded as AT&T Corporation in 1994. The 1982 United States v. AT&T antitrust lawsuit resulted in the divestiture of AT&T's ("Ma Bell") local operating subsidiaries which were grouped into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), commonly referred to as "Baby Bells", resulting in seven independent companies, including Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC). The latter changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995. In 2005, SBC purchased its former parent AT&T Corp. and took on

1900-625: The AT&T landline network in Connecticut after being approved by state utility regulators. The deal was worth about $ 2 billion, and included Frontier inheriting about 2,500 of AT&T's employees and many of AT&T's buildings. The company is headquartered at Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas. On June 27, 2008, AT&T announced that it would move its corporate headquarters from downtown San Antonio to One AT&T Plaza in downtown Dallas. The company said that it moved to gain better access to its customers and operations throughout

1976-542: The AT&T name upon merger closure on November 18, 2005. SBC began trading as AT&T Inc. on December 1, 2005, but began re-branding as early as November 21 of the same year. In 2006 AT&T Inc. purchased BellSouth . In 1997, NYNEX was acquired by Bell Atlantic (taking the Bell Atlantic name), which later, in 2000, acquired GTE , the largest independent telephone company. Bell Atlantic later changed its name to Verizon that same year. In 2005, following

2052-523: The Caribbean under the Vrio brand; and Advertising and Analytics, since renamed Xandr . On July 13, 2017, it was reported that AT&T would introduce a cloud-based DVR streaming service. It hoped to create a unified platform across DirecTV and its DirecTV Now streaming service, with U-verse to be added shortly afterward. The service, named HBO Max , launched in May 2020. On September 12, 2017, it

2128-620: The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia, in a larger deal including some former GTE companies with Verizon Communications . In December 2013, AT&T agreed to sell SNET to Frontier, with the sale closing in the second half of 2014. On April 1, 2016, Frontier Communications (FTR) completed the data conversions from the Verizon systems for the remaining three largest former GTE properties: California, Florida and Texas. On May 1, 2020, Frontier Communications (FTR) completed

2204-487: The IPO due to market conditions. As of 2019, AT&T is the world's largest telecommunications company. AT&T is also the largest provider of mobile telephone services and the largest provider of fixed telephone (landline) services in the United States. In September 2019, activist investor Elliott Management revealed that it had purchased $ 3.2 billion of AT&T stock (a 1.2% equity interest), and had pushed for

2280-572: The Internet speed of today's marketplace. It will also ensure that outmoded regulatory practices for today's competitive marketplace are properly placed in the dustbin of history." In May 2018, reports emerged that AT&T made 12 monthly payments between January and December 2017 to Essential Consultants, a company set up by President Donald Trump 's lawyer Michael Cohen , totaling $ 600,000. Although initial reports on May 8 mentioned only four monthly payments totaling $ 200,000, documents obtained by

2356-595: The Mexican wireless business of NII Holdings . AT&T merged the two companies to create AT&T Mexico . In July 2015, AT&T purchased DirecTV for $ 48.5 billion. AT&T then announced plans to converge its existing U-verse home internet and IPTV brands with DirecTV , to create AT&T Entertainment . On October 22, 2016, AT&T announced a deal to buy Time Warner for $ 108.7 billion in an effort to increase its media holdings. On November 20, 2017, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim filed

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2432-578: The Private Enterprise Board of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives that drafts and shares model state-level legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States. During the period of 1998 to 2019, the company expended US$ 380.1 million on lobbying in

2508-587: The Trump administration's planned tax reforms, as well as about potential changes to net neutrality policies under the new FCC. Chairman of the FCC Ajit Pai denied Cohen ever inquired about net neutrality on AT&T's behalf. A spokesperson for AT&T said that the company had been contacted by the Special Counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller regarding the payments, and had provided all

2584-539: The United States. A key political issue for AT&T has been the question of which businesses win the right to profit by providing broadband internet access in the United States. The company has also lobbied in support of several federal bills. AT&T supported the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2013 (H.R. 3675; 113th Congress) , a bill that would make a number of changes to procedures that

2660-469: 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

2736-680: The breach. AT&T was also reported to have been affected by a 2024 attack from the Salt Typhoon advanced persistent threat linked to the Chinese government . Of the eight companies that were part of the Breakup of the Bell System, these five are a part of the current AT&T: AT&T's wireline business provides services in 22 states. The following companies have become defunct or were sold under SBC/AT&T ownership: Of

2812-407: The companies. A "Baby Bell" is a local telephone company in the United States that was in existence at the time of the breakup of AT&T into the resulting Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). Sometimes also referred to as an "ILEC" (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier) they were the former Bell System or Independent Telephone Company responsible for providing local telephone exchange services in

2888-817: The company changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. 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. On November 18, 2005, SBC Communications purchased its former parent, AT&T Corporation for $ 16 billion. After this purchase, SBC adopted

2964-678: The company for $ 2.6 billion. On September 7, 2021, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets completed its purchase of Cincinnati Bell, Inc. and later rebranded the company name to AltaFiber. FairPoint Communications , an independent provider based in North Carolina , acquired Northern New England Telephone Operations . NNETO is an operating company split from the original New England Telephone to serve access lines in Maine and New Hampshire . The sale of these lines by Verizon to FairPoint closed in 2008. Telephone Operating Company of Vermont ,

3040-402: The company is reported to shareholders on an annual basis and a matter of public record. Where performance has been restated, the most recent statement of performance from an annual report is used. AT&T reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 5,788 Kt (-737 /-11.3% y-o-y) and plans to reduce emissions by 63% by 2030 from

3116-421: The company to divest assets to improve its share value. On March 4, 2020, AT&T announced its intent to perform major cost-cutting moves, including cuts to capital investment, and plans to promote AT&T TV (which officially launched nationally on March 2) as its primary pay television service offering. AT&T stated it would still primarily promote DirecTV "where cable broadband is not prevalent", and as

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3192-534: The company was renamed WarnerMedia. Three months after completing the acquisition, AT&T reorganized into four main units: Communications, including consumer and business wireline telephony, AT&T Mobility, and consumer entertainment video services; WarnerMedia, including Turner cable television networks, Warner Bros. film and television production, and HBO ; AT&T Latin America, consisting of wireless service in Mexico and video in Latin America and

3268-513: The company's headquarters in New York City, the company relocated to Stamford, Connecticut for their new headquarters. In 1971 GT&E undertook an identity change and became simply GTE, while Sylvania Electric Products became GTE Sylvania. The same year, Donald C. Power retired and Leslie H. Warner became chairman of the board. Theodore F. Brophy was brought in as president. In 1974, GTE worked with American Telephone & Telegraph in

3344-409: The company's president and chief operating officer. In April 1988, after the retirement of Theodore F. Brophy, James L. "Rocky" Johnson was promoted from his position as president and chief operating officer to CEO of GTE; he was appointed chairman in 1991. Under Johnson's leadership, GTE divested its 50% ownership of US Sprint , the nation's third largest long-distance company. He also orchestrated

3420-527: The company's satellite provider, Spacenet , to General Electric and Contel of Maine to Oxford Networks , which placed the company into a newly created subsidiary, Oxford West Telephone . Bell Atlantic merged with GTE on June 30, 2000, and named the new entity Verizon Communications . The GTE operating companies retained by Verizon are now collectively known as Verizon West division of Verizon (including east coast service territories). The remaining smaller operating companies were sold off or transferred into

3496-433: The company's trademark rights. Following the company updating its logo in 2015 and subsequent reimaging of its trucks, the Bell logo has since been removed. Malheur Bell , an autonomous local phone company owned by Qwest , used the Bell name and logo until its merger into Qwest in 2009. Apart from historical documents, AT&T does not presently make active use of the Bell marks. Its local exchange companies have retained

3572-455: The end of the decade, ten million GT&E phones were active. In the late 1960s, GT&E joined in the search for a railroad car Automatic Car Identification system. It designed the KarTrak optical system, which won over other manufacturer's systems in field trials, but ultimately proved to need too much maintenance. In the late 1970s the system was abandoned. After a 1970 bomb attack to

3648-507: The first voice, video, and data services community in Cerritos, California to test home banking, at-home shopping, home security, and pay-per-view television in 16,000 homes and 2,000 businesses. In April 1992, James L. "Rocky" Johnson retired after 43 years at GTE, remaining on the GTE board of directors as chairman emeritus. Charles "Chuck" Lee was named to succeed Johnson. In 1994, Lee sold

3724-514: The former Bell System , and includes four of the seven "Baby Bells" along with the original AT&T Corp., including the long-distance division . AT&T was founded as Bell Telephone Company by Alexander Graham Bell , Thomas Watson and Gardiner Greene Hubbard after Bell's patenting of the telephone in 1875. By 1881, Bell Telephone Company had become the American Bell Telephone Company. One of its subsidiaries

3800-471: The former Bell Telephone Company of Canada (founded in 1880) and which started separating from the Bell System in 1956, and completely by 1975, continues to use the "Bell" trademarks, which it owns outright in Canada. Verizon continued to use the Bell logo on its payphones (including former GTE payphones), hard hats, trucks, and buildings, most likely intending to display continued use in order to maintain

3876-515: The headquarters for AT&T Mobility, with significant offices in Redmond, Washington, the former home of AT&T Wireless . Bedminster, New Jersey, is the headquarters for the company's Global Business Services group and AT&T Labs and is where the original AT&T Corp. remains located. St. Louis continues as home to the company's Directory operations, AT&T Advertising Solutions . AT&T also offers services in many locations throughout

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3952-688: The information requested in November and December 2017. In early 2019, the Democratic House Judiciary requested records related to the AT&T-Time Warner merger from the White House . While it has expressed support for LGBTQ causes, AT&T has also donated to sponsors of anti-transgender legislation in several US states, especially those predominantly Republican -governed, including Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas and Florida. The financial performance of

4028-541: The largest United States corporations, with revenues of $ 122.4 billion. The modern company to bear the AT&T name began its history as the American District Telegraph Company, formed in St. Louis in 1878. After expanding services to Arkansas , Kansas , Oklahoma and Texas through a series of mergers, it became Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in 1920, which was then a subsidiary of

4104-411: The latter's branding, history, and stock trading symbol, as well as a version of its iconic logo. The merged entity, naming itself AT&T Inc., launched on December 30, 2005. The newly merged and renamed AT&T Inc. acquired BellSouth Corporation in 2006, the last independent Baby Bell, making the two companies' joint venture Cingular Wireless (which had itself acquired AT&T Wireless in 2004)

4180-429: The only non-communications-oriented company under GTE ownership. GTE provided local telephone service to many areas of the U.S. through operating companies , much as American Telephone & Telegraph provided local telephone service through its 22 Bell Operating Companies . The company acquired BBN Planet , one of the earliest Internet service providers, in 1997. That division became known as GTE Internetworking, and

4256-498: The original American Telephone & Telegraph Company . The latter was a successor of the original Bell Telephone Company founded by Alexander Graham Bell in 1877. The American Bell Telephone Company formed the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) subsidiary in 1885. In 1899, AT&T became the parent company after the American Bell Telephone Company sold its assets to its subsidiary. During most of

4332-846: The remaining ones. Additional properties were sold off within a few years after the merger to CenturyTel , Alltel , and Hawaiian Telcom . On July 1, 2010, Verizon sold many former GTE properties to Frontier Communications . Other GTE territories in California, Florida, and Texas were sold to Frontier in 2015 and transferred in 2016, thus ending Verizon's landline operations outside of the historic Bell Atlantic footprint. Verizon still operates phone service in non-Bell System areas in Pennsylvania under Verizon North , and in non-Bell System areas in Virginia and Knotts Island, North Carolina under Verizon South . In September 2024, Verizon announced

4408-535: The sale of Sylvania and the merger with Contel, creating the 2nd largest telephone company in the United States. In 1989, GTE reorganized into six operating groups, focusing on its core businesses of telephone operations, information services, and publishing of telephone directories. With previous job cuts and announced future job cuts, Johnson was able to return GTE to profitability. Other new services provided under his leadership were GTE Mobilenet cellular telephone operations, Airfone air-to-ground telephone services, and

4484-512: The sale of its Northwest Regional companies of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington to Ziply Fiber in an effort to avoid Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This move did not solve Frontier Communications financial problems resulting in a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing on April 14, 2020. Frontier went public again on May 4, 2021, with FYBR as its trading symbol on NASDAQ, after changing its name to "Frontier Communications Parent". AT%26T AT&T Inc. , an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name,

4560-557: The world, and to the key technology partners, suppliers, innovation and human resources needed as it continues to grow, domestically and internationally. AT&T Inc. previously relocated its corporate headquarters to San Antonio from St. Louis, Missouri, in 1992, when it was then named Southwestern Bell Corporation. The company's Telecom Operations group, which serves residential and regional business customers in 22 U.S. states, remains in San Antonio. Atlanta, Georgia, continues to be

4636-408: Was grandfathered . When BC Tel merged with Telus (the name given to the privatized Alberta Government Telephones (AGT)) to create BCT.Telus , GTE's Canadian subsidiaries were merged into the new parent, making it the second-largest telecommunications carrier in Canada. As such, GTE's successor, Verizon Communications, was the only foreign telecommunications company with a greater than 20% interest in

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4712-600: Was a bidder in the proposed sale of Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, purchased the mobile gaming studio Playdemic from WBIE for US$ 1.4 billion in June 2021. In September 2021, Fox Corporation acquired TMZ from WarnerMedia in a deal worth about $ 50 million with TMZ being operated under the Fox Entertainment division. On December 21, 2021, AT&T announced that they had agreed to sell Xandr (and AppNexus ) to Microsoft for an undisclosed price. The deal

4788-543: Was acquired by Bell Atlantic, which change its name to Verizon . The Wisconsin -based Associated Telephone Utilities Company was founded in 1926; it went bankrupt in 1933 during the Great Depression , and was reorganized as General Telephone in 1934. In 1991, it acquired the third largest independent, Continental Telephone (ConTel). It owned Automatic Electric , a telephone equipment supplier similar in many ways to Western Electric , and Sylvania Lighting ,

4864-642: Was completed in April 2011. In August 2011, the Qwest branding was retired and replaced by that of CenturyLink. CenturyLink rebranded to Lumen Technologies in September 2020. The former independent Bell System franchisee Cincinnati Bell , which was not part of the 1984 divestiture because AT&T held only a minority stake in the company, remains independent of the RBOCs. In December 2019, Cincinnati Bell announced that Brookfield Infrastructure Partners would acquire

4940-501: Was completed in June 2022. On April 8, 2022, the spinoff of WarnerMedia and its subsequent merger with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery was completed. As a result of this merger, HBO Max and other video services were dropped from AT&T's unlimited plan offering. AT&T was one of several clients of Snowflake Inc. that had data stolen in a 2024 breach. Phone and text logs from May 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022 of "nearly all" AT&T customers were exposed as part of

5016-424: Was created as a branch company. Power was named C.E.O. and chairman in 1961, making way for Leslie H. Warner, formerly of Theodore Gary, to become president. Simultaneously, GT&E went on to buy Community Antenna Television providers. In 1964, Western Utilities Corporation became part of GT&E. Additional purchases during the 1960s included Hawaiian Telephone Company and Northern Ohio Telephone Company. At

5092-453: Was established with John Winn as president. The following year, the company created General Telephone Directory Company as a division. During World War II, General Telephone helped install phone service for military facilities. From 1946 to 1950, General Telephone obtained over 100,000 telephone lines and bought out Leich Electric Company. General Telephone's holdings included 15 telephone companies across 20 states by 1951, when Donald C. Power

5168-525: Was later spun off into the independent company Genuity (a name recycled from another Internet company GTE acquired in 1997) to satisfy Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements regarding the GTE–Bell Atlantic merger that created Verizon. GTE operated in Canada via large interests in subsidiary companies such as BC Tel and Quebec-Téléphone . When foreign ownership restrictions on telecommunications companies were introduced, GTE's ownership

5244-430: Was named president of the company under chairman and long-time GT executive Morris F. LaCroix, replacing the retiring Harold Bozell (president 1940 – 1951). Power proceeded to expand the company through the 1950s principally through two acquisitions. In 1955, Theodore Gary & Company became a part of General Telephone and allowed the company to hold over 2 million telephone lines after the companies merged. It also had

5320-479: Was one of the companies created by the breakup of AT&T Corp. The company 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. In the latter half of the 1990s, the company acquired several other telecommunications companies, including two Baby Bells ( Pacific Telesis Group and Ameritech Corporation ), while selling its cable business. During this time,

5396-566: Was originally Century Telephone (CenturyTel), and took the Centurylink name in 2009 when it acquired Embarq , the former local operations of Sprint Nextel , which also included the former operations of Centel . The company, as CenturyTel, had acquired some Wisconsin Bell lines from Ameritech in 1998. Qwest , a Denver -based fiber optics long-distance company, had taken over US West in 2000. CenturyLink announced in April 2010 its intent to buy Qwest for US$ 10.6 billion. The transaction

5472-599: Was proposed, but ultimately abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic -related growth in the video gaming industry, as well as a positive reception to upcoming DC Comics , Lego Star Wars , and Harry Potter titles from fans and critics. Crunchyroll was sold to Sony 's Funimation for US$ 1.175 billion in December 2020, with the acquisition closing in August 2021. On February 25, 2021, AT&T announced that it would spin-off DirecTV, U-Verse TV, and DirecTV Stream into

5548-428: Was reported that AT&T planned to launch a new cable TV-like service for delivery over-the-top over its own or a competitor's broadband network sometime the following year. On March 7, 2018, the company prepared to sell a minority stake of DirecTV Latin America through an IPO , creating a new holding company for those assets named Vrio Corp. On April 18, just a day before the public debut of Vrio, AT&T canceled

5624-555: Was split off into Bellcore , which would serve as an R&D and standards body for the seven Baby Bells. In 1997, Bellcore was acquired by Science Applications International Corporation where it became a wholly owned subsidiary and was renamed Telcordia . Southwestern Bell Corporation , which changed its name to SBC Communications in 1995, acquired Pacific Telesis in 1997, SNET in 1998, and Ameritech in 1999. In February 2005, SBC announced its plans to acquire former parent company AT&T Corp. for over $ 16 billion. SBC took on

5700-406: Was the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), established in 1885. On December 30, 1899, AT&T acquired the assets of its parent American Bell Telephone, becoming the new parent company. AT&T established a network of local telephone subsidiaries in the United States. AT&T and its subsidiaries held a phone service monopoly , authorized in 1913 by government authorities with

5776-418: Was the fourteenth-largest donor to United States federal political campaigns and committees from 1989 to 2019, having contributed more than US$ 84.1 million , 42% of which went to Republicans and 58% of which went to Democrats . In 2005, AT&T was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $ 250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush . Bill Leahy, representing AT&T, sits on

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