AT&T Inc. is the biggest provider of landline telephone service (telephony) in the United States. The company also provides high-speed Internet services and television services over their broadband network. In the USA, AT&T is also the second largest provider of cellular & mobile phone network services. Verizon Wireless is the leader in the United States when measuring the number of wireless network subscribers.
AT&T began as Southwestern Bell Corporation. The name was changed in 1995 to SBC Communications. Then in 2005, the AT&T name began to be used after the purchase of AT&T Corporation by SBC Communications. AT&T’s history dates back for more than a century. AT&T used to have a monopoly in the United States telephone market until 1984 when after loosing an antitrust suit; the American government broke up the company.
The irony of today’s AT&T is that it very much like the old ATT the American government broke up. It is made up from 11 of the 22 former Bell System companies and it’s long distance telephone calls division. AT&T’s headquarters are in Dallas, Texas. To differentiate the company from the old AT&T, the new company goes by the name AT&T Inc, instead of the original AT&T Corporation. AT&T is a publicly traded company and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the “T” ticker symbol.
In 2006, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) approved the acquisition of BellSouth by AT&T. The deal gave AT&T ownership of BellSouth’s wireless cellular division that traded under the Cingular Wireless brand name. It also gave AT&T ownership of Yellowpages.com. All services are now marketed under the AT&T brand name.
As traditional home telephone lines have declined, AT&T has turned its focus on wireless services. It has also rolled out new media projects such as Video Share, U-Verse and high-speed internet home services.
In 2007, AT&T acquired Dobson Communications and Interwise. Dobson, provided mobile phone network services under the Cellular One brand name. It also purchased Edge Wireless, a regional GSM network service carrier in the Pacific Northwest. In 2007, AT&T also announced the removal of all of its remaining 65,000 payphones.
In 2008, AT&T acquired Centennial Communications. In order to received FCC and Department of Justice approval, ATT sold of parts of the Centennial Communications network in Louisiana and Mississippi to Verizon Wireless. 2008 also saw the purchase of Wayport Inc, a major provider of Internet hotspot service across the United States. At the time, this acquisition gave AT&T more 20,000 hotspots across North America.
AT&T is the exclusive wireless network provider for the iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. This exclusive agreement with Apple in the United States marketplace is set to expire in August 2010. ATT also offers a full range of Blackberry smartphones, Android smartphones, Windows Mobile handsets, netbooks, wireless cards and other devices from makers such as: Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Pantech, Motorola, LG, HP and Garmin. Unlockology.com carries unlocking solutions for most of these brands.
Unlockology.com provides unlocking services for Blackberry, HTC, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and other cellular mobile phones locked on the AT&T Mobility Network. Unlockology also supplies easy and free how to unlock an ATT phone instructions. Once unlocked an AT&T blackberry, Motorola, HTC, LG, Samsung or other compatible phone will work with SIM cards from different GSM network service providers worldwide.
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