美国电话电报公司
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas.[5] It is the world’s largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile telephone services in the U.S.[6][7] As of 2022, AT&T was ranked 13th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations, with revenues of $168.8 billion.[8]
During most of the 20th century, AT&T had a monopoly on phone service in the United States. The company began its history as the American District Telegraph Company, formed in St. Louis in 1878.[9] 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 American Telephone and Telegraph Company.[10] The latter was a successor of the original Bell Telephone Company founded by Alexander Graham Bell in 1877.[11][12] The American Bell Telephone Company formed the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) subsidiary in 1885.[13] In 1899, AT&T became the parent company after the American Bell Telephone Company sold its assets to its subsidiary.[14] The company was rebranded as AT&T Corp. in 1994.[15] The 1982 United States v. AT&T antitrust lawsuit resulted in the divestiture of AT&T’s (“Ma Bell”) local operating subsidiaries[16] which were grouped into seven[17] Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), commonly referred to as “Baby Bells”, resulting in seven independent companies,[17] including Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC).[18] The latter changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995.[19]
In 2005, SBC purchased its former parent AT&T Corp. and took on its branding, with the merged entity naming itself AT&T Inc. and using its history, a version of its iconic logo and stock-trading symbol which launched on December 30, 2005.[20] AT&T Inc. acquired BellSouth Corporation in 2006, the last independent Baby Bell company, making its formerly joint venture Cingular Wireless (which had acquired AT&T Wireless in 2004) wholly owned and rebranding it as AT&T Mobility. AT&T Inc. also acquired Time Warner in 2016,[21][22] with the proposed merger confirming on June 12, 2018[23] and the aim of making AT&T the largest and controlling shareholder of Time Warner and rebranding it 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 much of the former Bell System, and includes four of the seven “Baby Bells” along with the original AT&T Corp., including the long-distance division.[24]
History
Main article: History of AT&T
Origin and growth (1885–1981)
Further information: History of AT&T § Origins, and History of AT&T § Monopoly
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.[25] By 1881, Bell Telephone Company had become the American Bell Telephone Company.[26] One of its subsidiaries was the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), established in 1885.[27] On December 30, 1899, AT&T acquired the assets of its parent American Bell Telephone, becoming the new parent company.[28] 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 the Kingsbury Commitment, throughout most of the twentieth century.[29] This monopoly was known as the Bell System,[30] and during this period, AT&T was also known by the nickname Ma Bell.[31]
Breakup and reformation (1982–2004)
Further information: Breakup of the Bell System, History of AT&T § Breakup, and History of AT&T § Post break-up restructuring
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.[32] These new companies were known as Regional Bell Operating Companies, or more informally, Baby Bells.[33] AT&T continued to operate long-distance services but faced increasing competition from overseas supplied competitors such as MCI and Sprint.[34]
Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC) was one of the companies created by the breakup of AT&T Corp.[35] 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.[citation needed] In the latter half of the 1990s, the company acquired several other telecommunications companies, including two Baby Bells (Pacific Telesis Group and Ameritech Corporation),[36] while selling its cable business. During this time, the company changed its name to SBC Communications Inc.[37] 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).[38][39] 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)
Further information: History of AT&T § Rise of SBC, and History of AT&T § Post-consolidation wireless acquisitions
On November 18, 2005, SBC Communications, Inc.based in San Antonio, purchased AT&T Corp. for $16 billion.[40] After this purchase, SBC adopted the better-known AT&T name and brand, with the original AT&T Corp. still existing as the long-distance landline subsidiary of the merged company.[41] The current AT&T Inc. claims the original AT&T Corp.’s history (dating to 1877) as its own,[42] 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.[43] 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.[44][45]
In September 2013, AT&T announced it would expand into Latin America through a collaboration with América Móvil.[46] In December 2013, AT&T announced plans to sell its Connecticut wireline operations to Stamford-based Frontier Communications.[47]
AT&T acquired BellSouth Corporation on December 29, 2006, following FCC approval.[48] The transaction consolidated ownership and management of Cingular Wireless.[49] AT&T rebranded its wireless retail stores from Cingular to AT&T in January 2007.[50]
Recent developments (2013–present)
See also: History of AT&T § Recent developments (2013–present)
In late 2014, AT&T purchased Mexican cellular carrier Iusacell,[51] and two months later, it purchased the Mexican wireless business of NII Holdings.[52] AT&T merged the two companies to create AT&T Mexico.[53]
In July 2015, AT&T purchased DirecTV for $48.5 billion.[54][55][56] AT&T then announced plans to converge its existing U-verse home internet and IPTV brands with DirecTV, to create AT&T Entertainment.[57][58][59]
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.[60][61][62][63][64][65] On November 20, 2017, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim filed 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.”[66][67] On June 12, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that the merger could go forward.[68] The merger closed two days afterwards, with Time Warner becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. A day later, the company was renamed WarnerMedia.[69][70] Among other key assets, the acquisition of WarnerMedia by AT&T included the Warner Bros. film and television studios, U.S. cable/satellite channels such as HBO, Adult Swim, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, TBS, TNT, TruTV, Turner Classic Movies and a 50% stake in The CW (ViacomCBS, now Paramount Global, owns the other 50%).
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 the Caribbean under the Vrio brand; and Advertising and Analytics, since renamed Xandr.[71][72]
On July 13, 2017, it was reported that AT&T would introduce a cloud-based DVR streaming service as part of its effort to create a unified platform across DirecTV and its DirecTV Now streaming service, with U-verse to be added soon.[73][74][75] The service, named HBO Max, launched in May 2020.[76]
On September 12, 2017, it 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.[77]
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.[78][79] However, on April 18, just a day before the public debut of Vrio, AT&T canceled the IPO due to market conditions.[80][81]
As of 2019, AT&T is the world’s largest telecommunications company.[82] AT&T is also the largest provider of mobile telephone[83][84] services and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the United States.[85]
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 the company to divest assets to improve its share value.[86]
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 a specialty option.[87]
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.[88] 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.[88]
As a result of planned cost cutting programs, the sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment was proposed, but ultimately abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic-related growth in the Gaming industry, as well as a positive reception to upcoming DC Comics, Lego Star Wars, and Harry Potter titles from fans and critics.[89]
Crunchyroll was sold to Sony’s Funimation for US$1.175 billion in December 2020, with the acquisition closing in August 2021.[90][91]
On February 25, 2021, AT&T announced that it would spin-off DirecTV, U-Verse TV, and DirecTV Stream into 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.[92][93]
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.[94]
Electronic Arts, which 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.[95]
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.[96]
On December 21, 2021, AT&T announced that they had agreed to sell Xandr (and AppNexus) to Microsoft for an undisclosed price.[97] The deal was completed in June 2022.[98]
On April 8, 2022, the spinoff of WarnerMedia and its subsequent merger with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery was completed.[99] As a result of this merger, HBO Max and other video services were dropped from AT&T’s unlimited plan offering.[100]