Jump to content

AT&T

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from AT&T, Inc.)
This article is about the company known as AT&T since 2005. For the original AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph) founded in 1885, see AT&T Corporation. For the telephone company founded in 1882, see Southwestern Bell. For other uses, see AT&T (disambiguation).

AT&T Inc.
Formerly
  • Southwestern Bell Corporation (1983–1995)
  • SBC Communications Inc.[1] (1995–2005)
Company typePublic
ISINUS00206R1023
Industry
Predecessors
FoundedMarch 3, 1885; 139 years ago (1885-03-03) (as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company)[2]
October 5, 1983; 41 years ago (1983-10-05) (as AT&T)[3]
HeadquartersWhitacre Tower,
Dallas, Texas
,
United States
Area served
United States
Key people
RevenueIncrease US$122.4 billion (2023)
Increase US$23.46 billion (2023)
Increase US$15.62 billion (2023)
Total assetsIncrease US$407.1 billion (2023)
Total equityIncrease US$117.4 billion (2023)
Number of employees
149,900 (2024)
Divisions
SubsidiariesDirecTV (70%) (pending sale of stake to TPG Inc.)
FirstNet
Cricket Wireless
ASN
Websiteatt.com
Footnotes / references
Financials as of fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.
References:[4]

AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas.[5] 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.[6] As of 2023, AT&T was ranked 13th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations, with revenues of $122.4 billion.[7]

The company began its history as the American District Telegraph Company, formed in St. Louis in 1878.[8] 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.[9] The latter was a successor of the original Bell Telephone Company founded by Alexander Graham Bell in 1877.[10][11] The American Bell Telephone Company formed the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) subsidiary in 1885.[12] In 1899, AT&T became the parent company after the American Bell Telephone Company sold its assets to its subsidiary.[13] During most of the 20th century, AT&T had a monopoly on phone service in the United States.

The company was rebranded as AT&T Corp. in 1994.[14] The 1982 United States v. AT&T antitrust lawsuit resulted in the divestiture of AT&T's ("Ma Bell") local operating subsidiaries[15] which were grouped into seven[16] Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), commonly referred to as "Baby Bells", resulting in seven independent companies,[16] including Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC).[17] The latter changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995.[18]

In 2005, SBC purchased its former parent AT&T Corp. and took on 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.[19] The newly merged and renamed AT&T Inc. acquired BellSouth Corporation in 2006, the last independent Baby Bell company, making BellSouth and SBC (AT&T Inc.)'s formerly joint venture Cingular Wireless (which had itself acquired AT&T Wireless in 2004) 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,[20][21] with the proposed merger confirmed on June 12, 2018[22] 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 the former Bell System, and includes four of the seven "Baby Bells" along with the original AT&T Corp., including the long-distance division.[23]

History

[edit]
Main article: History of AT&T

Origin and growth (1877–1981)

[edit]
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.[24] By 1881, Bell Telephone Company had become the American Bell Telephone Company.[25] One of its subsidiaries was the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), established in 1885.[26] On December 30, 1899, AT&T acquired the assets of its parent American Bell Telephone, becoming the new parent company.[27] 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.[28] This monopoly was known as the Bell System,[29] and during this period, AT&T was also known by the nickname Ma Bell.[30]

Breakup and reformation (1982–2004)

[edit]
Further information: United States v. AT&T (1982), 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.[31] These new companies were known as Regional Bell Operating Companies, or more informally, Baby Bells.[32] AT&T continued to operate long-distance services but faced increasing competition from competitors such as MCI and Sprint.[33]

Southwestern Bell Corporation (SBC) was one of the companies created by the breakup of AT&T Corp.[34] 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),[35] while selling its cable business. During this time, the company changed its name to SBC Communications Inc.[36] 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).[37][38] 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)

[edit]
Further information: History of AT&T § Rise of SBC, and History of AT&T § Post-consolidation wireless acquisitions

On November 18, 2005, SBC Communications purchased its former parent, AT&T Corporation for $16 billion.[39] 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.[40] The current AT&T Inc. claims the original AT&T Corporation's history (dating to 1877) as its own,[41] 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.[42] 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.[43][44]

In September 2013, AT&T announced it would expand into Latin America through a collaboration with América Móvil.[45] In December 2013, AT&T announced plans to sell its Connecticut wireline operations to Stamford-based Frontier Communications.[46]

AT&T acquired BellSouth Corporation on December 29, 2006, following FCC approval.[47] The transaction consolidated ownership and management of Cingular Wireless.[48] AT&T rebranded its wireless retail stores from Cingular to AT&T in January 2007.[49]

Recent developments (2013–present)

[edit]
See also: History of AT&T § Recent developments (2013–present)

In late 2014, AT&T purchased Mexican cellular carrier Iusacell,[50] and two months later, it purchased the Mexican wireless business of NII Holdings.[51] AT&T merged the two companies to create AT&T Mexico.[52]

In July 2015, AT&T purchased DirecTV for $48.5 billion.[53][54][55] AT&T then announced plans to converge its existing U-verse home internet and IPTV brands with DirecTV, to create AT&T Entertainment.[56][57][58]

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.[59][60][61][62][63][64] 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."[65][66] On June 12, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that the merger could go forward.[67] 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.[68][69]

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.[70][71]

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.[72][73][74] The service, named HBO Max, launched in May 2020.[75]

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.[76]

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.[77][78] On April 18, just a day before the public debut of Vrio, AT&T canceled the IPO due to market conditions.[79][80]

As of 2019, AT&T is the world's largest telecommunications company.[81] AT&T is also the largest provider of mobile telephone[82][83] services and the largest provider of fixed telephone (landline) services in the United States.[84]

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.[85]

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.[86]

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.[87] 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.[87]

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 video gaming industry, as well as a positive reception to upcoming DC Comics, Lego Star Wars, and Harry Potter titles from fans and critics.[88]

Crunchyroll was sold to Sony's Funimation for US$1.175 billion in December 2020, with the acquisition closing in August 2021.[89][90]

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.[91][92]

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.[93]

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.[94]

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.[95]

On December 21, 2021, AT&T announced that they had agreed to sell Xandr (and AppNexus) to Microsoft for an undisclosed price.[96] The deal was completed in June 2022.[97]

On April 8, 2022, the spinoff of WarnerMedia and its subsequent merger with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery was completed.[98] As a result of this merger, HBO Max and other video services were dropped from AT&T's unlimited plan offering.[99]

AT&T was one of several clients of Snowflake Inc. that had data stolen in a 2024 breach.[100] Phone and text logs from May 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022 of "nearly all" AT&T customers were exposed as part of the breach.[101] 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.[102]

Landline operating companies

[edit]

Of the eight companies that were part of the Breakup of the Bell System, these five are a part of the current AT&T:[103]

Baby Bells chart

[edit]
Main article: Regional Bell Operating Company
AT&T Corporation
RBOC grouped into "Baby Bells" split off in 1984
BellSouthAT&T Corporation
(non-LEC)		AmeritechPacific TelesisSouthwestern Bell
(later SBC Communications)		Bell AtlanticNYNEXUS West
GTE
(non-RBOC ILEC)		Qwest (non-ILEC)
Verizon
AT&T
(former SBC)
CenturyLink
(non-RBOC ILEC)
AT&TVerizonLumen Technologies

Current states

[edit]

AT&T's wireline business provides services in 22 states.[104]

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • Nevada
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Wisconsin

Former operating companies

[edit]

The following companies have become defunct or were sold under SBC/AT&T ownership:

Decline of rural landlines

[edit]

Of 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 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.[107]

Corporate structure

[edit]
AT&T office in San Antonio, Texas

Facilities and regions

[edit]

The company is headquartered at Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas.[5] 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.[5][108] The company said that it moved to gain better access to its customers and operations throughout the world, and to the key technology partners, suppliers, innovation and human resources needed as it continues to grow, domestically and internationally.[109] 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.[110][111] Atlanta, Georgia, continues to be 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.[112]

AT&T also offers services in many locations throughout the Asia Pacific; its regional headquarters is located in Hong Kong.[113] 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.[50] The acquisition was approved in January 2015.[114][115] On April 30, 2015, AT&T acquired wireless operations Nextel Mexico from NII Holdings (now AT&T Mexico).[116]

Corporate governance

[edit]
See also: Category:AT&T people
CEO Randall L. Stephenson at the 2008 World Economic Forum

AT&T's current board of directors as of March 2024:[117]

The current management as of March 2024 includes:[118]

  • John Stankey – Chief executive officer
  • Thaddeus Arroyo – Chief Strategy and Development Officer
  • Pascal Desroches – Senior Executive Vice President & Chief financial officer
  • Ed Gillespie – Senior Executive Vice President - External and Legislative Affairs
  • Kellyn Smith Kenny – Chief Marketing & Growth Officer
  • Lori Lee – CEO – AT&T Latin America & Global Marketing Officer
  • Jeremy Legg – Chief Technology Officer, AT&T Services, Inc.
  • David R. McAtee II – Senior Executive Vice President and General counsel
  • Jeff McElfresh – Chief operating officer

Political involvement

[edit]

According to OpenSecrets, AT&T was the fourteenth-largest donor to United States federal political campaigns and committees from 1989 to 2019,[119] 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.[120][121][122] Bill Leahy, representing AT&T, sits on the Private Enterprise Board of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).[123] 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.[124][125][126]

During the period of 1998 to 2019, the company expended US$380.1 million on lobbying in the United States.[127] 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.[128] 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 the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) follows in its rulemaking processes.[129] The FCC would have to act in a more transparent way as a result of this bill, forced to accept public input about regulations.[130] 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 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."[131]

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.[132] Although initial reports on May 8 mentioned only four monthly payments totaling $200,000,[133] documents obtained by the Washington Post on May 10 confirmed the figure of 12 payments, which had begun three days after the President was sworn into office.[134][135] AT&T confirmed the report the same day.[136] 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,[134][135] to gain information on the Trump administration's planned tax reforms, as well as about potential changes to net neutrality policies under the new FCC.[137] Chairman of the FCC Ajit Pai denied Cohen ever inquired about net neutrality on AT&T's behalf.[136][138] 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 the information requested in November and December 2017.[139][140]

In early 2019, the Democratic House Judiciary requested records related to the AT&T-Time Warner merger from the White House.[141]

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.[142][143][144]

Historical financial performance

[edit]

The financial performance of 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.[145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155]

Performance measurements, by year
Measurement 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Revenues (billion USD) 45.38 43.14 40.50 40.79 43.86 63.06 118.9 124.0 122.5 124.8 126.7 127.4 128.8 132.4 146.8 163.8 160.5 170.8 181.2
Net Income (billion USD) 7.008 5.653 8.505 5.887 4.786 7.356 11.95 12.87 12.14 19.86 3.944 7.264 18.25 6.224 13.69 13.33 29.85 19.37 13.90
Assets (billion USD) 96.42 95.17 102.0 110.3 145.6 270.6 275.6 265.2 268.3 268.5 270.3 272.3 277.8 292.8 402.7 403.8 444.1 531.9 551.7
Number of employees (thousands) 193.4 175.0 168.0 162.7 190.0 304.2 309.1 302.7 282.7 266.6 256.4 241.8 243.4 243.6 281.5 268.5 254.0 268.2 247.8

Carbon footprint

[edit]

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)[156] and plans to reduce emissions by 63% by 2030 from a 2015 base year.[157] This science-based target is aligned with Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.[158]

AT&T's annual Total CO2e Emissions - Market-Based Scope 1 + Scope 2 (in kilotonnes)
Dec 2015 Dec 2017 Dec 2018 Dec 2019 Dec 2020
8,829[159] 7,801[160] 7,749[161] 6,525[162] 5,788[156]

Criticism and controversies

[edit]

Hemisphere database

[edit]
Main article: Hemisphere Project

The company maintains a database of call detail records of all telephone calls that have passed through its network since 1987. AT&T employees work at High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area offices (operated by the Office of National Drug Control Policy) in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Houston so data can be quickly turned over to law enforcement agencies. Records are requested via an administrative subpoena, without the involvement of a court or grand jury.

Censorship

[edit]

In September 2007, AT&T changed its legal policy to state that "AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice for conduct that AT&T believes ... (c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries."[163] By October 10, 2007, AT&T had altered the terms and conditions for its Internet service to explicitly support freedom of expression by its subscribers, after an outcry claiming the company had given itself the right to censor its subscribers' transmissions.[164]

Privacy controversy

[edit]
Further information: MAINWAY, Room 641A, Mark Klein, NSA warrantless surveillance controversy, and Hepting v. AT&T
Diagram of how alleged wiretapping worked, from EFF court filings[165]

In 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation lodged the class action lawsuit Hepting v. AT&T, which alleged that AT&T had allowed agents of the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor phone and Internet communications of AT&T customers without warrants. If true, this would violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. AT&T has yet to confirm or deny that monitoring by the NSA is occurring. In April 2006, retired former AT&T technician Mark Klein lodged an affidavit supporting this allegation.[166][167] The US Department of Justice stated it would intervene in this lawsuit by means of State Secrets Privilege.[168]

In July 2006, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California – in which the suit was filed – rejected a federal government motion to dismiss the case. The motion to dismiss, which invoked the State Secrets Privilege, had argued that any court review of the alleged partnership between the federal government and AT&T would harm national security. The case was immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit. It was dismissed on June 3, 2009, citing retroactive legislation in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.[169][170]

In May 2006, USA Today reported that all international and domestic calling records had been handed over to the National Security Agency by AT&T, Verizon, SBC, and BellSouth for the purpose of creating a massive calling database.[171] The portions of the new AT&T that had been part of SBC Communications before November 18, 2005, were not mentioned.

On June 21, 2006, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that AT&T had rewritten rules on its privacy policy. The policy, which took effect June 23, 2006, says that "AT&T – not customers – owns customers' confidential info and can use it 'to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.'"[172]

On August 22, 2007, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell confirmed that AT&T was one of the telecommunications companies that assisted with the government's warrantless wire-tapping program on calls between foreign and domestic sources.[173]

On November 8, 2007, Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, told Keith Olbermann of MSNBC that all Internet traffic passing over AT&T lines was copied into a locked room at the company's San Francisco office – to which only employees with National Security Agency clearance had access.[174]

AT&T keeps for five to seven years a record of who text messages whom and the date and time, but not the content of the messages.[175]

AT&T has a one star privacy rating from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.[176]

[edit]

In January 2008, reports emerged that the company planned to begin filtering all Internet traffic which passed through its network for intellectual property violations.[177] Media commentators speculated that if this plan was implemented, it would have led to a mass exodus of subscribers from AT&T,[178] although Internet traffic of non-subscribers may have gone through the company's network anyway.[177] Internet freedom proponents used these developments as justification for government-mandated network neutrality.

Under AT&T's current copyright enforcement program, content owners may notify AT&T when they allege unlawful sharing of material. The program is based on IP addresses visible to content owners in peer-to-peer networks, not on filtering. AT&T has terminated the broadband service of some customers accused of copyright infringement.[179]

Discrimination against local public-access television channels

[edit]

In 2009 AT&T was accused by community media groups of discriminating against local public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels, by "impictions that will severely restrict the audience".[180]

According to Barbara Popovic, executive director of the Chicago public-access service CAN-TV, the new AT&T U-verse system forced all Public-access television into a special menu system, denying normal functionality such as channel numbers, access to the standard program guide, and DVR recording.[180] The Ratepayer Advocates division of the California Public Utilities Commission reported: "Instead of putting the stations on individual channels, AT&T has bundled community stations into a generic channel that can only be navigated through a complex and lengthy process."[180]

Sue Buske (president of telecommunications consulting firm the Buske Group and a former head of the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers/Alliance for Community Media) argue that this is "an overall attack [...] on public access across the [United States], the place in the dial around cities and communities where people can make their own media in their own communities".[180]

Information security

[edit]

In June 2010, a hacker group known as Goatse Security discovered a vulnerability within AT&T that could allow anyone to uncover email addresses belonging to customers of AT&T 3G service for the Apple iPad.[181] These email addresses could be accessed without a protective password.[182] Using a script, Goatse Security collected thousands of email addresses from AT&T.[181] Goatse Security informed AT&T about the security flaw through a third party.[183] Goatse Security then disclosed around 114,000 of these emails to Gawker Media, which published an article about the security flaw and disclosure in Valleywag.[181][183] Praetorian Security Group criticized the web application that Goatse Security exploited as "poorly designed".[181]

In April 2015, AT&T was fined $25 million over data security breaches, marking the largest ever fine issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for breaking data privacy laws. The investigation revealed the theft of details of approximately 280,000 people from call centers in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines.[184][185]

In March 2024, AT&T confirmed the 2021 leak of contact information for over 7.6 million current users, as well as 65 million former ones. The leaked records may contain "full name, email address, mailing address, phone number, social security number, date of birth, AT&T account number and passcode".[186] Multiple class-action lawsuits have been filed as a result of this.[187][188]

In July 2024, the company stated it experienced a new breach, the largest to date. The company is expected to notify around 110 million customers who were affected.[189]

Accusations of enabling fraud

[edit]

In March 2012, the United States federal government announced a lawsuit against AT&T. The specific accusations state that AT&T "violated the False Claims Act by facilitating and seeking federal payment for IP Relay calls by international callers who were ineligible for the service and sought to use it for fraudulent purposes. The complaint alleges that, out of fears that fraudulent call volume would drop after the registration deadline, AT&T knowingly adopted a non-compliant registration system that did not verify whether the user was located within the United States. The complaint further contends that AT&T continued to employ this system even with the knowledge that it facilitated the use of IP Relay by fraudulent foreign callers, which accounted for up to 95 percent of AT&T's call volume. The government's complaint alleges that AT&T improperly billed the TRS Fund for reimbursement of these calls and received millions of dollars in federal payments as a result."[190] In 2013, AT&T entered into a consent decree with the FCC and paid a total of $21.75 million.[191]

Aaron Slator controversy

[edit]

On April 28, 2015, AT&T announced that it had fired Aaron Slator, President of Content and Advertising Sales, for sending text messages critics described as racist.[192] African-American employee Knoyme King filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against Slator.[193] The day before that, protesters arrived at AT&T's headquarters in Dallas and its satellite offices in Los Angeles as well as at the home of CEO Randall Stephenson to protest alleged systemic racial policies. According to accounts, the protesters demanded that AT&T begin working with 100% black-owned media companies.[194]

On January 24, 2017, Slator sued AT&T in the Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing the company of defamation and wrongful termination. Slator had been involved in organizing AT&T's planned $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV since 2014, and he claimed that when news headlines speculated that his text messages could prevent the acquisition from going through, he was fired as a "scapegoat" by company executives. He also claimed that the executives had known about the text messages since at least late 2013, and had promised him at the time that he would not be fired for them.[195][196] The company stood by its decision to terminate Slator.[197]

Overcharging government agencies

[edit]

In 2020 AT&T paid out $48 million to settle a lawsuit with 30 government entities. The suit (under the California False Claims Act) related to contractual undertakings to provide services at "the lowest cost available". AT&T denied any wrongdoing in the matter.[198]

One America News Network

[edit]

An investigative report by Reuters in 2021 revealed that AT&T played a key role in creating, funding and sustaining One America News Network (OAN), a far-right TV network known for promoting conspiracy theories.[199] According to 2020 sworn testimony by an OAN accountant, 90% of OAN's revenue came from AT&T. According to OAN founder Robert Herring Sr., AT&T wanted to create a conservative network to compete with Fox News. Court documents showed OAN promised to "cast a positive light" on AT&T during newscasts. AT&T denied the allegations.[200][201] Comedian John Oliver criticized AT&T in his weekly show for funding OAN.[202]

Leaking data to Wall Street

[edit]

In March 2021 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit against AT&T and three of its executives for violating the Fair Disclosure Rule against making selective disclosures of "material nonpublic information" to analysts and others. The SEC alleged that beginning in early 2016 these executives leaked key information to Wall Street analysts in order to manipulate revenue forecasts for the company.[203]

In December 2022, without acknowledging any guilt, AT&T agreed to pay $6.25 million in fines to settle the lawsuit. The individual executives were also on the hook for $25,000 each.[203][204]

Bribery to influence legislation

[edit]

In October 2022, AT&T agreed to pay a $23 million fine to resolve a federal criminal investigation into the company's efforts to unlawfully influence former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan.[205] Under a deferred prosecution with the US Department of Justice, AT&T admitted that it arranged for payments to an ally of Madigan in order to influence Madigan's vote in 2017 on legislation that would eliminate AT&T's so-called "Carrier of Last Resort" obligation to provide landline telephone service to all Illinois residents, which was expected to save the company millions of dollars.[205] Madigan also helped to defeat an amendment to a bill that became law in 2018 regarding fees for small cell tower attachments that would have been harmful to AT&T's interests.[206] Former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza, who is set to go on trial in September 2024 for the alleged bribery scheme, described AT&T's quid pro quo relationship with Madigan in an email to an AT&T employee as "the friends and family plan."[206]

2024 outage

[edit]

On February 22, 2024, cellular service was disrupted across the United States with "millions" unable to connect to the cellular network.[207] Municipalities reported that AT&T customers were unable to place calls to emergency services, even when using their phone's SOS capability.[208] The blackout prompted the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to launch investigations into the possibility of a cyber attack being the cause of the blackout.[209] AT&T later claimed that the cause was instead a poorly timed server update.[210] Users were later compensated credit as a result of the outage.[211] In March, the FCC opened an investigation into the outage.[207]

2024 Data Breach Fine

On September 18, 2024, AT&T was fined $13 million by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) following a major data breach that exposed millions of customers' personal information. The FTC found that AT&T failed to implement adequate cybersecurity measures and did not promptly notify affected individuals. As part of the settlement, AT&T is required to enhance its data protection practices and provide identity theft protection to those impacted.[212]

Naming rights and sponsorships

[edit]

Buildings

[edit]
AT&T Midtown Center in Atlanta, Georgia

Venues

[edit]

Sponsorships

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Form 8-K Archived January 16, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. Securities and Exchange Commission. October 25, 2004. Accessed January 16, 2019.
  2. ^ "Foreign Corporations". bsd.sos.mo.gov. Missouri Secretary of State. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  3. ^ Restated Certificate of Incorporation of AT&T Inc. Archived September 4, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Securities and Exchange Commission. April 24, 2009. Accessed September 3, 2017.
  4. ^ "AT&T INC. 2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 24, 2024. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Godinez, Victor; McLemore, David (June 28, 2008). "AT&T moving headquarters to Dallas from San Antonio". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009.
  6. ^ "Financial and Operational Trends" (PDF) (Press release). October 23, 2024. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "Annual Financials for AT&T Inc". MarketWatch. Dow Jones. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  8. ^ Hast, Adele (1992). International Directory of Company Histories. Detroit: St. James Press. p. 328. ISBN 1-55862-061-3. Southwestern Bell Telephone Company has about 20 predecessor companies. The four largest of these were American District Telegraph Company, formed in St. Louis, Missouri 1878; the Kansas City Telephone Exchange, formed in Kansas City, Missouri in 1879, Southwestern Telegraph & Telephone Company, which began serving Texas and Arkansas in 1881; and Pioneer Telephone & Telegraph Company, which provided telephone service beginning in 1904 in Oklahoma – not then a state, but known as Indian Territory – and in parts of Kansas.
  9. ^ Hast, Adele (1992). International Directory of Company Histories. Detroit: St. James Press. p. 328. ISBN 1-55862-061-3. In 1917, the four companies began moving toward a more formal merge, with the Missouri & Kansas Telephone Company – the new name of the Kansas City Telephone Exchange – acquiring Bell Telephone Company of Missouri, successor to American District Telegraph. The resulting company was named Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (Missouri). In 1920 this company bought Southwestern Telephone & Telegraph and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (Oklahoma), the successor to Pioneer Telephone & Telegraph, establishing the new Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, which was a subsidiary of AT&T.
  10. ^ Danielian, N.R. (1939). A.T.&T. The Story of Industrial Conquest. New York: Vanguard Press. p. 9. ISBN 9780405060380. After the success of Bell's experiments, which resulted in the basic Bell patents of 1876 and 1877, a new company was organized for the purpose of commercial exploitation. The Bell Telephone Company, a Massachusetts voluntary association, was formed on July 9, 1877, with Gardiner G. Hubbard as trustee.
  11. ^ Danielian, N.R. (1939). A.T.&T. The Story of Industrial Conquest. New York: Vanguard Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780405060380. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company was, therefore, incorporated in New York in 1885, as a subsidiary of American Bell Telephone Company, to operate long-distance telephone lines...In 1899, American Bell sold all of its assets to its subsidiary, AT&T...As a result of this transaction, AT&T emerged as the parent company in the Bell System, assuming the holding-company functions previously exercised by American Bell Telephone Company.
  12. ^ Danielian, N.R. (1939). A.T.&T. The Story of Industrial Conquest. New York: Vanguard Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 9780405060380. With increasing demands for telephones, the financial needs of the Bell System were expanding. To meet these needs, a new corporation, the American Bell Telephone Company, was created by a special act of the Massachusetts legislature... The American Telephone and Telegraph Company was, therefore, incorporated in New York in 1885, as a subsidiary of American Bell Telephone Company, to operate long-distance telephone lines, and Vail became its first president.
  13. ^ Danielian, N.R. (1939). A.T.&T. The Story of Industrial Conquest. New York: Vanguard Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780405060380. In 1899, American Bell sold all of its assets (except A.T.&T. stock) to its subsidiary, A.T.&T. It then offered to its stockholders two shares of the A.T.&T. stock which hit held, in exchange for one share of American Bell stock. As a result of this transaction, A.T.&T. emerged as the parent company in the Bell System, assuming the holding-company functions previously exercised by American Bell Telephone Company.
  14. ^ "DIGEST". The Washington Post. March 2, 1994. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021. AT&T is asking shareholders to change its official name from American Telephone & Telegraph Co. to AT&T Corp. at the annual meeting April 20 in Atlanta.
  15. ^ "THE CHALLENGE OF DIVESTITURE". The New York Times. October 25, 1983. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2021. Under the antitrust settlement A.T.& T. signed with the Justice Department in January 1982, the divested organizations not only will be local telephone carriers, but, with certain restrictions, they will have the right to enter other businesses as well.
  16. ^ a b "THE CHALLENGE OF DIVESTITURE". The New York Times. October 25, 1983. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2021. The 7 Holding Companies. The seven regional holding companies that will result from the breakup of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company are sketched here, with a brief outline of their potential strengths and weaknesses.
  17. ^ "THE CHALLENGE OF DIVESTITURE". The New York Times. October 25, 1983. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2021. Southwestern Bell, stretching from Arkansas through Texas into Missouri, will have only one existing local operating company, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, under it, saving it any pains of integration.
  18. ^ "SBC drops Southwestern Bell, other brand names". Kansas City Business Journal. December 10, 2002. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021. In 1995, the former Bell company took on the SBC Communications name.
  19. ^ "SBC wraps up acquisition of AT&T". Chicago Tribune. November 19, 2005. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021. SBC will unveil a new AT&T logo Monday as it outlines plans for changing the name of the merged company...The combined company will adopt AT&T's stock symbol, T, on the New York Stock Exchange beginning Dec. 1.
  20. ^ Hagey, Keach; Sharma, Amol; Cimilluca, Dana; Gryta, Thomas (October 22, 2016). "AT&T Is in Advanced Talks to Acquire Time Warner". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  21. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (October 22, 2016). "AT&T Sets $85.4 Billion Time Warner Deal, CEOs Talks 'Unique' Potential of Combination". Variety. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  22. ^ Gold, Hadas. "Judge approves $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner deal". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  23. ^ "How AT&T got busted up and pieced back together". CNN Money. May 20, 2014. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2021. The whirlwind began in 1997, when Southwestern Bell Corp. (SBC) merged with fellow Baby Bell Pacific Telesis. Two years later, SBC bought Ameritech, another Baby Bell. Then, the craziness really started when SBC bought Ma Bell -- its former parent company -- in 2005. The combined company renamed itself AT&T. A year later, the new AT&T bought BellSouth, yet another Baby Bell. The new AT&T also bought Cingular Wireless in 2006 -- a company jointly run by Baby Bells SBC and BellSouth that had bought the old AT&T Wireless in 2004. Cingular then changed its name to AT&T Mobility. Got all that? The merger history of these five Baby Bells is dizzying and better explained visually.
  24. ^ "Home| History| AT&T". www.corp.att.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  25. ^ Brooks, John (1976). Telephone: The First Hundred Years. New York: Harper & Row. p. 73. ISBN 0-06-010540-2. Early in 1881, the American Bell Telephone Company – as it came to be called beginning in March 1880 – issued its first annual report to stockholders.
  26. ^ "AT&T's History of Invention and Breakups". The New York Times. February 13, 2016. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021. 1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is created as a subsidiary of Bell Telephone to build and operate a long-distance telephone network.
  27. ^ Brooks, John (1975). TELEPHONE The First Hundred Years. New York: Harper & Row. p. 107. ISBN 0-06-010540-2. Accordingly, the American Bell management bad farewell to Boston and gradually moved its offices to downtown Manhattan, and on December 30, 1899 – the next-to-last day of the old century – AT&T, with a new capitalization of over seventy million dollars, became the parent company of the Bell System, which, of course, it has remained ever since.
  28. ^ Griffin, Jodie (December 19, 2013). "100th Anniversary of the Kingsbury Commitment". Public Knowledge. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021. In 1913, the U.S. filed an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T to break up its growing monopoly in the phone service market. While Congress contemplated nationalizing the long distance telephone network, AT&T settled the antitrust lawsuit with the Kingsbury Commitment. In the Kingsbury Commitment, AT&T agreed to allow independent local telephone companies to interconnect with AT&T's long distance network, divest Western Union, and refrain from purchasing other companies if the Interstate Commerce Commission objected.
  29. ^ Pollack, Andrew (January 1, 1984). "BELL SYSTEM BREAKUP OPENS ERA OF GREAT EXPECTATIONS AND GREAT CONCERN". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  30. ^ Pagliery, Jose (May 20, 2014). "How AT&T got busted up and pieced back together". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  31. ^ Pollack, Andrew (August 4, 1983). "A.T.& T., U.S. AGREE ON FINAL ASPECTS OF BELL BREAKUP". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021. The local companies, grouped into seven regional holding companies, will provide local telephone service and can sell, but not manufacture, telephone equipment.
  32. ^ "Lessons from the AT&T break up, 30 years later-CICTP". Tech Policy Daily. January 3, 2014. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  33. ^ Factors affecting U.S. trade and shipments of information technology products computer equipment, telecommunications equipment, and semiconductors. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4289-5190-7. Archived from the original on March 13, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  34. ^ "A brief history of AT&T - Jul. 9, 2001". money.cnn.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  35. ^ "TELEPHONE INDUSTRY". Oklahoma Historical Society. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021. After Congress de-regulated the telecommunications industry in February 1996, allowing regional companies to compete with long distance carriers, among other rule changes, SBC began to expand. In 1996 it merged with Pacific Telesis Group, and in 1998 the company bought the Ameritech Corporation.
  36. ^ Roundup, An Interactive Journal News (June 24, 1998). "AT&T Agrees to Acquire TCI, Creating a Telecom Behemoth". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  37. ^ "NOVEMBER 1, 1999 Changes to Dow Jones Industrial Average". Dow Jones Industrial Stocks. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  38. ^ Gaffen, David (March 6, 2015). "At long last, Dow gets a taste for Apple". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021. Apple Inc AAPL.O, the largest U.S. company by market value, will join the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI, replacing AT&T Inc T.N, in a change that reflects the dominant position of the iPhone maker in the U.S. consumer economy.
  39. ^ Van, Jon (November 19, 2005). "SBC wraps up acquisition of AT&T". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021. SBC Communications Inc. completed its acquisition of AT&T Corp. on Friday after California regulators approved the $16 billion deal.
  40. ^ Belson, Ken (January 31, 2005). "SBC Agrees to Acquire AT&T for $16 Billion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 12, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2021. SBC Communications last night was close to concluding a $16 billion deal for its former parent, AT&T, that would lead to the virtual disappearance of one of America's best known corporate icons and set off what promises to be a new round of competition between the Baby Bells, executives close to the negotiations said.
  41. ^ Danielian, N. R. (1939). AT&T The Story of Industrial Conquest. New York: The Vanguard Press. p. 9. ISBN 0405060386. The Bell Telephone Company, a Massachusetts voluntary association, was formed on July 9, 1877, with Gardiner G. Hubbard as trustee.
  42. ^ "AT&T to Buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion". The New York Times. March 20, 2011. Archived from the original on March 22, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
  43. ^ AT&T (December 19, 2011). "AT&T Ends Bid To Add Network Capacity Through T-Mobile USA Purchase". AT&T. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  44. ^ Lee, Timothy B. (December 19, 2011). "AT&T admits defeat on T-Mobile takeover, will pay $4 billion breakup fee". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  45. ^ Carew, Sinead (September 18, 2013). "AT&T to expand in Latin America with America Movil deal". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  46. ^ AT&T (December 17, 2013). "AT&T Announces Plans to Sell Connecticut Wireline Operations to Frontier Communications for $2.0 Billion". AT&T. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  47. ^ Bajaj, Vikas (December 30, 2006). "BellSouth and AT&T Close Deal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021. Federal regulators approved AT&T's $85.8 billion acquisition of BellSouth yesterday, allowing the companies to close their delayed deal.
  48. ^ Vorman, Julie (January 21, 2007). "AT&T closes $86 billion BellSouth deal". Reuters. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021. Now four of the seven companies that were spun off from the original AT&T in 1984 are back under one roof, and it includes 66.1 million telephone lines, 58.7 million Cingular Wireless customers and 11.6 million high-speed Internet customers.
  49. ^ Searcey, Dionne (January 12, 2007). "Bye, Cingular, in AT&T Rebranding". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021. But in the long term, Mr. Lerman said, AT&T will benefit from the efficiency of having its well-known name appear on all its services. AT&T executives wouldn't say how much the rebranding will cost as they change signs in roughly 2,000 stores as well as employee uniforms and billing letterhead. But executives estimate 20% of the expected operating-expense savings from the merger will come from advertising, because of the single AT&T brand.
  50. ^ a b Nguyen, Chuong (November 7, 2014). "AT&T to expand North American coverage area with Mexico carrier Iusacell acquisition". Android Central. Archived from the original on January 3, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  51. ^ "AT&T to buy NII Holdings' wireless business in Mexico". Reuters. January 26, 2015. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  52. ^ "Report: AT&T in talks to tap Mexico towers". RCR Wireless News. June 16, 2015. Archived from the original on October 28, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  53. ^ "AT&T Completes Acquisition of DirecTV". Reuters. January 26, 2015. Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  54. ^ "AT&T & DirecTV Merger Gets FCC Approval – With Conditions". Deadline. July 24, 2015. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  55. ^ "FCC approves AT&T–DirecTV merger". The Verge. July 24, 2015. Archived from the original on July 24, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  56. ^ Bode, Karl (December 2, 2015). "AT&T Plans on Killing the DirecTV Name Starting in January". DSL Reports. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  57. ^ Farrell, Mike (December 2, 2015). "AT&T Enters Next Phase in DirecTV Branding". MultiChannel News. Archived from the original on December 4, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  58. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (April 26, 2016). "AT&T Sees DirecTV, Broadband Subscriber Gains in Q1 as U-verse Fades". Variety. Archived from the original on April 27, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  59. ^ Hammond, Ed; Sherman, Alex; Moritz, Scott (October 20, 2016). "AT&T Discussed Idea of Takeover in Time Warner Meetings". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  60. ^ Yu, Robert (October 20, 2016). "Report: AT&T considering buying Time Warner". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  61. ^ Hagey, Keach; Sharma, Amol; Cimilluca, Dana (October 21, 2016). "AT&T Is in Advanced Talks to Acquire Time Warner". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  62. ^ Yu, Roger (October 22, 2016). "AT&T agrees to buy Time Warner for more than $80B". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  63. ^ Gryta, Thomas; Hagey, Keach; Cimilluca, Dana (October 22, 2016). "AT&T Reaches Deal to Buy Time Warner for $86 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  64. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (October 22, 2016). "AT&T Sets $85.4 Billion Time Warner Deal, CEOs Talk 'Unique' Potential of Combination". Variety. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  65. ^ "Justice Department sues to block AT&T-Time Warner merger". CBS News. November 20, 2017. Archived from the original on November 20, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  66. ^ Fung, Brian (November 21, 2017). "The Justice Department is suing AT&T to block its $85 billion bid for Time Warner". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  67. ^ Ivanova, Irina (June 12, 2018). "Judge approves AT&T-Time Warner merger without conditions". CBS News. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  68. ^ "AT&T Completes Acquisition of Time Warner Inc". AT&T. June 15, 2018. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  69. ^ Chmielewski, Dawn C. (June 14, 2018). "AT&T Completes $85B Acquisition Of Time Warner". Deadline. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  70. ^ "SEC-Show". otp.tools.investis.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  71. ^ Betz, Brandy (September 21, 2018). "AT&T revises segment structure on Time Warner buy". Seeking Alpha. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  72. ^ Lawler, Richard (July 13, 2017). "AT&T's 'next-gen' TV platform rollout will start on DirecTV Now". Engadget. Archived from the original on July 13, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  73. ^ Lieberman, David (July 13, 2017). "AT&T To Offer Cloud-Based DVR To Streaming Services". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 13, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  74. ^ Frankel, Daniel (July 13, 2017). "DirecTV Now to finally get cloud DVR as part of AT&T video platform rollout". Fierce Cable. Archived from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  75. ^ Welch, Chris (July 9, 2019). "WarnerMedia confirms its Netflix rival will be called HBO Max". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  76. ^ Engebretson, Joan (September 12, 2017). "AT&T CEO: Bye-Bye DirecTV, Hello AT&T OTT Video". Telecompetitor. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  77. ^ "AT&T Inc. Announces Filing of a Registration Statement for Potential IPO of Minority Stake in DIRECTV Latin America". Business Wire. March 7, 2018. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  78. ^ Spangler, Todd (March 7, 2018). "AT&T's DirecTV Latin America Unit Files for IPO as Prelude to Possible Spinoff". Variety. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  79. ^ "AT&T Inc. Statement Regarding Planned Vrio Corp. IPO". PR Newswire. April 18, 2018. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  80. ^ "At the last minute, AT&T withdraws the planned IPO of its Vrio unit". CNBC. Reuters. April 19, 2018. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  81. ^ "The World's Largest Telecom Companies 2019: AT&T, Verizon Hold On To Top Spots Amid 5G Buzz". Forbes. May 15, 2019. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  82. ^ "Financial and Operational Trends" (PDF). AT&T. July 24, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  83. ^ "Financial and Operating Information". Verizon. June 30, 2019. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  84. ^ Leichtman Research Group, "Research Notes," Archived October 20, 2016, at the Wayback Machine First Quarter 2012, pg. 6, AT&T (#1) with 21,232,000 residential phone lines.
  85. ^ Franck, Thomas (September 9, 2019). "AT&T shares rally after activist Elliott Management takes $3.2 billion stake, sees stock worth $60". CNBC. Archived from the original on September 10, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  86. ^ Brodkin, Jon (March 4, 2020). "Struggling AT&T plans "tens of billions" in cost cuts, more layoffs". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 18, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  87. ^ a b Feiner, Lauren (April 24, 2020). "AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson to step down, COO Stankey to take over". CNBC. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020.
  88. ^ Ahmed, Nabila; Moritz, Scott (September 1, 2020). "AT&T to Scrap Sale of Warner Bros. Video-Game Unit". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  89. ^ Moore, D.M. (December 9, 2020). "Sony's Funimation acquires anime streaming service Crunchyroll for $1.175 billion". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  90. ^ Mateo, Alex (August 9, 2021). "Sony's Funimation Global Group Completes Acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  91. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (February 25, 2021). "WarnerMedia Parent AT&T Sells DirecTV Stake To Private Equity Firm TPG". Deadline. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  92. ^ Hayes, Dade (August 2, 2021). "AT&T Completes DirecTV Spinoff; Satellite Operator Unites Its Internet-Delivered Bundles Under New Brand DirecTV Stream". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  93. ^ Stelter, Brian (May 17, 2021). "AT&T spins off WarnerMedia, combines it with Discovery". CNN. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  94. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (June 23, 2021). "AT&T, WarnerMedia Sell Playdemic Mobile Game Studio To Electronic Arts For $1.4 Billion". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  95. ^ Hayes, Dade (September 13, 2021). "Fox Entertainment Closes Acquisition Of TMZ From WarnerMedia". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  96. ^ Foley, Mary Jo (December 21, 2021). "Microsoft to buy Xandr ad marketplace from AT&T". ZDNet. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  97. ^ Farley, Nicole (June 6, 2022). "Microsoft, AT&T's Xandr acquisition complete". SearchEngine Land. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  98. ^ Koblin, John (April 8, 2022). "Hollywood Gets a New Giant". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  99. ^ Shakir, Umar (June 10, 2022). "New AT&T subscribers will no longer get HBO Max (or any other video service)". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  100. ^ Gorrivan, Charles; Ford, Brody (July 12, 2024). "Toll of Snowflake Hack Widens With Theft of AT&T Text, Calling Data". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  101. ^ Sanders, Hank (July 12, 2024). "Are You an AT&T Customer? Here's What to Know About the Data Breach". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  102. ^ Krouse, Sarah; Volz, Dustin; Viswanatha, Aruna; McMillan, Robert (October 5, 2024). "U.S. Wiretap Systems Targeted in China-Linked Hack". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  103. ^ "Agreements Between SNET America, Inc. (SAI) DBA AT&T Long Distance East, and AT&T Telephone Companies". AT&T. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  104. ^ Select your state to find service near you
  105. ^ Dan Haar (October 23, 1996). "SNET To Buy Woodbury Telephone". The Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  106. ^ "Dan Haar column: AT&T Selling Connecticut Operations to Frontier". tribunedigital-thecourant. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  107. ^ Turmelle, Luther (October 24, 2014). "Frontier takes over AT&T landline service Saturday". New Haven Register. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  108. ^ "Corporate Inquiries Archived March 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine." AT&T. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  109. ^ "AT&T moving headquarters to Dallas from San Antonio". Dallas News. June 27, 2008. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008.
  110. ^ Anders, David (April 21, 2022). "Need Home Internet Service? Find the Internet Providers in Your Area". CNET. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  111. ^ Paul, Trey (April 20, 2022). "AT&T Home Internet Review: Fiber's Nice, but Think Twice on DSL". CNET. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  112. ^ "AT&T Corporate Headquarters to Move to Dallas". June 27, 2008. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008.
  113. ^ "Corp.att.com". AT&T. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  114. ^ Cheng, Roger (January 16, 2015). "Done deal: AT&T closes $2.5 billion purchase of Mexico's Iusacell". CNET. Archived from the original on January 5, 2018.
  115. ^ Goldstein, Phil (January 16, 2015). "AT&T closes $2.5B deal for Mexican operator Iusacell". Fierce Wireless. Archived from the original on January 5, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  116. ^ Meyer, Dan (April 25, 2015). "AT&T bolsters Mexico operations with closing of Nextel Mexico deal". RCR Wireless News. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  117. ^ "Board of Directors". AT&T. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  118. ^ "Leadership". AT&T. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  119. ^ "Top Organization Contributors". OpenSecrets. United States. 2020. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  120. ^ Drinkard, Jim (January 17, 2005). "Donors get good seats, great access this week". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
  121. ^ "Financing the inauguration". USA Today. January 16, 2005. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
  122. ^ "Some question inaugural's multi-million price tag". USA Today. Associated Press. January 14, 2005. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
  123. ^ "Private Enterprise Board". American Legislative Exchange Council. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  124. ^ May, Clifford (August 30, 1987). "Transportation Chief Attacks Congress on Safety". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  125. ^ Goodman, Howard (March 23, 2013). "NRA's Behind-the-Scenes Campaign Encouraged 'Stand Your Ground' Adoption". Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  126. ^ Griffin, Marshall (January 14, 2014). "'Right-to-work' bill praised and blasted in House committee hearing". KBIA. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  127. ^ "AT&T Inc: Summary". OpenSecrets. United States. 2020. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  128. ^ "AT&T Inc". OpenSecrets. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  129. ^ "H.R. 3675 - CBO". Congressional Budget Office. January 29, 2014. Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  130. ^ Kasperowicz, Pete (March 11, 2014). "House votes for more transparency at the FCC". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  131. ^ McKone, Tim (December 11, 2013). "AT&T Statement on Bipartisan Spectrum and FCC Reform Legislation". AT&T Public Policy Blog. Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  132. ^ Bartz, Diane (May 9, 2018). "AT&T payments to Trump lawyer more than reported". Reuters. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  133. ^ Mangan, Dan; Breuninger, Kevin; Ruggiero, Ryan (May 8, 2018). "AT&T confirms it paid Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for 'insights' on administration". CNBC. Archived from the original on May 10, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  134. ^ a b Helderman, Rosalind S.; Fung, Brian; Hamburger, Tom (May 10, 2018). "Cohen's $600,000 deal with AT&T specified he would advise on Time Warner merger, internal company records show". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  135. ^ a b Wang, Christine (May 10, 2018). "AT&T reportedly paid Michael Cohen for guidance on Time Warner deal". CNBC. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  136. ^ a b Gold, Hadas (May 10, 2018). "AT&T confirms it paid Michael Cohen for consulting on Time Warner deal". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  137. ^ Turner, Nick; Moritz, Scott (May 9, 2018). "AT&T Was Paying Trump's Lawyer While White House Turned Into Foe". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  138. ^ Shields, Todd (May 10, 2018). "'No' Cohen Inquiries on Net Neutrality on AT&T's Behalf, FCC Chairman Says". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  139. ^ Thomas, Katie; Kang, Cecilia (May 9, 2018). "Novartis and AT&T Spoke to Mueller's Office About Payments to Michael Cohen". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  140. ^ Mangan, Dan; Ruggiero, Ryan (May 9, 2018). "AT&T says it was contacted by special counsel's office about Michael Cohen". CNBC. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  141. ^ Cristiano Lima (April 16, 2019). "White House denies House Democrats' AT&T-Time Warner records request". Politico. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  142. ^ Spencer, Christian (June 15, 2021). "CVS, AT&T, Comcast and others donated to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians, new study finds". The Hill. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  143. ^ "25 corporations marking Pride donated over $10m to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians – study". The Guardian. June 14, 2021. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  144. ^ "Corporate America has embraced Pride but made some crucial missteps". Fortune. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  145. ^ "Annual Report 2015". AT&T. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  146. ^ "Annual Report - 2014" (PDF). AT&T. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  147. ^ "SEC Filings — Form K-10 - 2005". AT&T. March 1, 2006. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  148. ^ "Annual Report 2016". AT&T. February 17, 2017. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  149. ^ "AT&T Inc. (T) Income Statement - Yahoo Finance". finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  150. ^ "AT&T Inc. (T) Balance Sheet - Yahoo Finance". finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  151. ^ "AT&T employees 2007-2018". Statista. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  152. ^ AT&T Inc. (March 14, 2003). Form 10-K ANNUAL REPORT - 2002 (Report). p. 155. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2021. 2002 Operating Revenues - $43,138 (dollars in millions
  153. ^ AT&T Inc. (March 14, 2003). Form 10-K ANNUAL REPORT - 2006 (Report). p. 312. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2021. 2005 Net Income - $4,786 (dollars in millions
  154. ^ AT&T Inc. (February 24, 2012). Form 10-K ANNUAL REPORT - 2011 (Report). p. 267. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2021. 2009 Net Income (Loss) Attributable to AT&T - $12,138 (dollars in millions
  155. ^ AT&T Inc. (February 24, 2012). Form 10-K ANNUAL REPORT - 2011 (Report). p. 267. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2021. 2010 Net Income (Loss) Attributable to AT&T - $19,864 (dollars in millions
  156. ^ a b "AT&T's CDP Disclosure for 2020Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2021. Alt URL Archived January 12, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  157. ^ "AT&T's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2021. Alt URL Archived January 12, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  158. ^ "Science Based Targets". Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  159. ^ "AT&T's CDP Disclosure for 2020Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2021. Alt URL Archived January 12, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  160. ^ "AT&T's CDP Disclosure for 2017Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2022. Alt URL Archived January 12, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  161. ^ "AT&T's CDP Disclosure for 2018Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2022. Alt URL Archived January 13, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  162. ^ "AT&T's CDP Disclosure for 2019Q4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 15, 2021. Alt URL Archived January 12, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  163. ^ Fisher, Ken (October 1, 2007). "AT&T threatens to disconnect subscribers who criticize the company". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  164. ^ Martin H. Bosworth. "AT&T Changes Terms Of Service After Outcry". Consumer Affairs. Archived from the original on January 2, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  165. ^ "Klein Exhibit" Document from Hepting vs AT&T lawsuit from 2007. Reported by Ryan Singel in Wired Magazine, article "AT&T 'Spy Room' Documents Unsealed; You've Already Seen Them" Archived January 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine June 13, 2007, Documents posted at the Electronic Frontier Foundation Archived October 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine website: (File "SER_klein_exhibits.pdf") Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  166. ^ Nakashima, Ellen (November 7, 2007). "A Story of Surveillance". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010.
  167. ^ Singel, Ryan (April 7, 2006). "Whistle-Blower Outs NSA Spy Room". Wired. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  168. ^ "Government Moves to Intervene in AT&T Surveillance Case". Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) (Press release). April 28, 2006. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  169. ^ "Hepting v. AT&T". Electronic Frontier Foundation. July 2011. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2021. In June of 2009, a federal judge dismissed Hepting and dozens of other lawsuits against telecoms. EFF appealed that decision but it was affirmed, and in October, 2012, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
  170. ^ Mohammed, Arshad (July 21, 2006). "Judge Declines to Dismiss Lawsuit Against AT&T". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  171. ^ Cauley, Leslie (May 11, 2006). "NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 23, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  172. ^ Lazarus, David (June 21, 2006). "AT&T Rewrites Rules: Your Data Isn't Yours". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  173. ^ Shrader, Katherine (August 22, 2007). "Spy Chief Reveals Classified Surveillance Details". Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  174. ^ Olbermann, Keith (November 8, 2007). "Whistleblower Saw AT&T Assist Bush Administration". MSNBC. Archived from the original on November 10, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  175. ^ Svensson, Peter (September 29, 2011). "Document Shows How Phone Cos. Treat Private Data". Phys.org. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019. T-Mobile USA doesn't keep any information on Web browsing activity. Verizon, on the other hand, keeps some information for up to a year that can be used to ascertain if a particular phone visited a particular Web site. According to the sheet, Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Virgin Mobile brand keeps the text content of text messages for three months. Verizon keeps it for three to five days. None of the other carriers keep texts at all, but they keep records of who texted who for more than a year. The document says AT&T keeps for five to seven years a record of who text messages who —and when, but not the content of the messages. Virgin Mobile only keeps that data for two to three months.
  176. ^ Reitman, Rainey (July 10, 2017). "Who Has Your Back? Government Data Requests 2017". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  177. ^ a b Wu, Tim (January 16, 2008). "Has AT&T Lost Its Mind? A baffling proposal to filter the Internet". Slate. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
  178. ^ "AT&T's Proposed Filtering Policy Is Bad News – Netiquette – NBC News". NBC News. January 25, 2008. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  179. ^ "AT&T steps up copyright enforcement, kicks customers off network". Ars Technica. November 6, 2018. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2021. Content owners notified us when they believed they had evidence that an Internet account was sharing copyrighted material unlawfully. Based on the notices we received, we identified the customer on the account and share[d] with them the information we received. We also reached out to the customer to educate them about copyright infringement and offer assistance to help prevent the activity from continuing. A small number of customers who continue to receive additional copyright infringement notifications from content owners despite our efforts to educate them will have their service discontinued. When files are distributed on the Internet over peer-to-peer networks, the IP address associated with a subscriber's account is visible by design to other users on the network. Content owners provide these IP addresses to AT&T along with additional information about the content that was allegedly shared by that IP address.
  180. ^ a b c d "AT&T Accused of Discriminating Against Local Public Access Channels, Deadline for Public Comment Expires Tonight". Democracy Now!. March 9, 2009. Archived from the original on March 12, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  181. ^ a b c d Keizer, Gregg (June 10, 2010). "'Brute force' script snatched iPad e-mail addresses". Computerworld. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
  182. ^ Keizer, Gregg (June 11, 2010). "iPad e-mail hackers defend attack as 'ethical'". Computerworld. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  183. ^ a b Keizer, Gregg (June 11, 2010). "iPad e-mail hackers defend attack as 'ethical'". Computerworld. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  184. ^ "AT&T pays record $25m fine over customer data thefts". April 9, 2015. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  185. ^ "F.C.C. Fines AT&T $25 Million for Privacy Breach". The New York Times. April 8, 2015. Archived from the original on November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  186. ^ Davis, Wes (March 31, 2024). "AT&T confirms data breach and resets millions of customer passcodes". The Verge. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  187. ^ Jewett, Abraham (April 8, 2024). "Multiple class actions filed over AT&T data breach". Top Class Actions. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  188. ^ "Petroski v. AT&T Inc" (PDF). Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  189. ^ Whittaker, Zack (July 12, 2024). "AT&T says criminals stole phone records of 'nearly all' customers in new data breach". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  190. ^ "Welcome to the United States Department of Justice". United States Department of Justice. March 22, 2012. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  191. ^ "AT&T Agrees to Settle Allegations Involving IP Relay Services Provided to Hearing- and Speech-Impaired Persons". United States Department of Justice. November 7, 2013. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021. On May 7, 2013, AT&T entered into a consent decree with the FCC that resolved allegations based on conduct related to the subject matter of today's settlement. Pursuant to that consent decree, AT&T paid a total of $18.25 million. Under the settlement announced today, AT&T has agreed to pay an additional $3.5 million to resolve its remaining liability under the False Claims Act.
  192. ^ "AT&T Fires President Over Racist Text; $100M Lawsuit Goes On". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  193. ^ "Aaron Slator, AT&T president, fired over racist text messages". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  194. ^ "Protesters Picket AT&T CEO's Dallas Estate". CNN iReport. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  195. ^ Garrett, Arnessa (January 25, 2017). "AT&T sued by exec who was fired over racist text". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  196. ^ Robb, David (January 24, 2017). "Former AT&T Content President Files Wrongful Termination Suit, Claims He Was Fired To Save DirecTV Merger". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  197. ^ "AT&T sued by exec who was fired over racist text". The Dallas Morning News. January 24, 2017. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021. Diversity and inclusion are important core values to us," the statement said. "We stand behind our decision to terminate Mr. Slator and are confident that his baseless allegations will ultimately be rejected.
  198. ^ Osborne, Charlie. "Verizon, AT&T settle overcharging whistleblower case for $116 million". ZDNet. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  199. ^ "Special Report: How AT&T helped build far-right One America News". Reuters. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  200. ^ Darcy, Oliver (October 7, 2021). "AT&T played key role in founding of far-right conspiracy outlet OAN, channel's president said in court". CNN. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  201. ^ Sadeque, Samira (October 7, 2021). "AT&T funds rightwing channel One America News, Reuters reveals". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  202. ^ Stern, Marlow (October 11, 2021). "John Oliver Torches His AT&T Bosses Over OAN Reveal: 'You Make the World Worse'". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  203. ^ a b Shapero, Julia (December 3, 2022). "AT&T to pay $6.25M to SEC over alleged leaks to Wall Street analysts". The Hill. Archived from the original on December 4, 2022.
  204. ^ Khushi, Akanksha; Bhowmik, Sneha (December 3, 2022). "AT&T to pay $6 million to SEC to settle lawsuit over leaks to analysts". Reuters. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022.
  205. ^ a b Brodkin, Jon (October 14, 2022). "AT&T to pay $23M fine for bribing powerful lawmaker's ally in exchange for vote". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  206. ^ a b Brodkin, Jon (May 14, 2024). "AT&T paid bribes to get two major pieces of legislation passed, US gov't says". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  207. ^ a b Gregg, Aaron (March 7, 2024). "FCC opens formal investigation into massive AT&T outage". Washington Post. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  208. ^ Fung, Melissa Alonso, Brian (February 22, 2024). "AT&T customers report a massive outage, disrupting phone service across America | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved February 22, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  209. ^ News, A. B. C. "AT&T outage caused by software update, company says". ABC News. Retrieved February 26, 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  210. ^ "AT&T Network Update". about.att.com. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  211. ^ "AT&T will give $5 to customers hit by cellphone network outage". AP News. February 25, 2024. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  212. ^ Brodkin, Jon (September 17, 2024). "AT&T fined $13M for data breach after giving customer bill info to vendor". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  213. ^ Nicholson, Jonno (January 14, 2021). "100 Thieves unveils AT&T as 5G and Fibre Innovations sponsor". Esportsinsider. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  214. ^ a b Candy, Will (August 4, 2020). "AT&T Sponsorship Brand Profile". Sportcal. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  215. ^ "Sponsorship? AT&T says hello to college football championship". Dallas News. January 9, 2015. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  216. ^ DeFranks, Matthew (January 5, 2021). "Young forwards provide intrigue to Stars roster lacking ambiguity". Dallas News. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  217. ^ "NCAA.org". NCAA.org. December 14, 2007. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  218. ^ "NBA names AT&T as official sponsor to create tech-focused fan experiences". Marketing Dive. February 6, 2019. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  219. ^ "WNBA 2021 commercial guide: Every franchise, every sponsor, all the major TV deals". SportsPro. May 20, 2021. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  220. ^ a b "NBA dials in AT&T to replace Verizon in major sponsorship slot". SportsPro. February 6, 2019. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  221. ^ "AT&T replacing Verizon as official NBA wireless sponsor". bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  222. ^ a b "Sponsorship, the big business behind F1 - CNN.com". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  223. ^ "AT&T and Infiniti Red Bull Racing – Speeding up Team Communications". AT&T. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  224. ^ "AT&T Taking Esports Strategy to New Heights with Cloud9 Agreement". AT&T. March 5, 2019. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  225. ^ Fitch, Adam (March 5, 2019). "Cloud9 enters sponsorship deal with AT&T". Esports Insider. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to AT&T.
Corporate information
  • Official website
  • Bell Operating Companies (from Bell System Memorial)
  • Business data for AT&T Inc.:
  • AT&T – History and science resources at The Franklin Institute's Case Files online exhibit (archived 30 August 2011)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AT%26T&oldid=1256295123"