A quick review of AT&T's past explains where they are today.
The Wireless Game Begins
In 1994, AT&T purchased the largest cellular carrier, McCaw Cellular with 2 million subscribers, for $11.5 billion.
In June 1999 UK based Vodafone bought the PacBell spin-off AirTouch in September 1999 combined this business with Bell Atlantic's wireless division forming the wireless company Verizon with 27.5 million wireless customers.
Constantly Changing Strategies at AT&T
In 2001 not knowing what to do with it, AT&T spun-off their wireless subsidiary.
In 2006 AT&T bought back their much expanded former wireless subsidiary Cingular with 46 million subscribers through the purchase of Bell South.
In December 2006 AT&T was purchased by Southwestern Bell which had already expanded their own wireless footprint with the purchase of Metromedia,
In June 2007, AT&T's new chairman and CEO, Randall Stephenson, discussed how wireless services are the core of "The New AT&T".
What Could Have Been
After seeing their number of wireless subscribers decline to competitors, in March 2011, AT&T tried to buy T-Mobile USA and their 40 million wireless customers for $39 billion from Deutsche Telekom.
Internet and media companies were opposed to the merger because it would leave them negotiating with just AT&T and Verizon to distribute their content and applications to customers and leaned on the FCC to block the merger.
So AT&T would need to focus on growing their existing wireless network, but in June 2018, CEO Randall Stephenson officially lost the plot and acquired Time Warner.
On April 24, 2020, AT&T acknowledged that AT&T's acquisitions of DirectTV and Time Warner had resulted in a massive debt burden of $200 billion for the company and a drag on their business - so also announced that company COO John Stankey would replace Randall Stephenson as CEO.
What's Left
AT&T is now back to 2018, badly needing to upgrade their wireless network - but now effectively behind Verizon and T-Mobile. It's going to be expensive.
We've run out of other people's Social Security taxes needed to subsidize our low income tax rates.
