9. AT&T Inc.

AT&T Inc.

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company, the second largest provider of mobile telephoneservices, and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the United States through AT&T Communications. Since June 14, 2018, it is also the parent company of mass media conglomerate WarnerMedia, making it the world's largest media and entertainment company in terms of revenue. As of 2018, AT&T is ranked #9 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

AT&T Inc.
AT&T's corporate headquarters in Dallas, Texas
Formerly	·         Southwestern Bell Corporation (1983–1995) ·         SBC Communications Inc. (1995–2005)
Type	Public
Industry	·         Telecommunications ·         Technology ·         Mass media ·         Entertainment
Predecessor	·         American Telephone and Telegraph Company ·         BellSouth ·         Ameritech ·         Pacific Telesis ·         Southwestern Bell
Founded	October 5, 1983; 35 years ago
Headquarters	Whitacre Tower,  Dallas, Texas ,  U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	·         Randall L. Stephenson ·         (chairman, CEO and president)
Products	·         Satellite television ·         Fixed-line telephony ·         Mobile telephony ·         Broadband ·         Digital television ·         Home security ·         IPTV ·         OTT services ·         Network security ·         Film production ·         Television production ·         Cable television ·         Pay television ·         Publishing ·         Podcasts ·         Sports management ·         News agency ·         Video games
Revenue	US$190.546 billion (2017)
Operating income	US$20.949 billion (2017)
Net income	US$29.450 billion (2017)
Total assets	US$444.097 billion(2017)
Total equity	US$142.007 billion(2017)
Number of employees	273,210 (2018)
Divisions	·         AT&T Communications ·         WarnerMedia ·         AT&T Latin America ·         Xandr
Subsidiaries	AT&T Corporation
Website	att.com

AT&T began its history as Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, a subsidiary of the Bell Telephone Company, founded by Alexander Graham Bell in 1880. The Bell Telephone Company evolved into American Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1885, which later rebranded as AT&T Corporation. The 1982 United States v. AT&T antitrust lawsuit resulted in the divestiture of AT&T Corporation's ("Ma Bell") subsidiaries or Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs, or "Baby Bells"), resulting in several independent companies including Southwestern Bell Corporation; the latter changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995. In 2005, SBC purchased its former parent AT&T Corporation and took on its branding, with the merged entity naming itself AT&T Inc. and using its iconic logo and stock-trading symbol. In 2006, AT&T Inc. acquired BellSouth, the last independent Baby Bell company, making their formerly joint venture Cingular Wireless (which had acquired AT&T Wireless in 2004) wholly owned and rebranding it as AT&T Mobility.

The current AT&T reconstitutes much of the former Bell System, and includes ten of the original 22 Bell Operating Companies along with the original long distance division.

MORE POSTS 

• Latest Illegal - HD Movies Download Website 
• Mp4movies - HD Movies Download Website  
  
• Moviespur - HD Movies Download Website
• Pagalworld - HD Movies Download Website 

History

Origin and growth (1885–1981)

AT&T can trace its origin back to the original Bell Telephone Company founded by Alexander Graham Bell after his patenting of the telephone. One of that company's subsidiaries was American Telephone and Telegraph Company(AT&T), established in 1885, which acquired the Bell Company on December 31, 1899, for legal reasons, leaving AT&T as the main company. AT&T established a network of subsidiaries in the United States and Canada that held a government-authorized phone service monopoly, formalized with the Kingsbury Commitment, throughout most of the twentieth century. This monopoly was known as the Bell System, and during this period, AT&T was also known by the nickname Ma Bell. For periods of time, the former AT&T was the world's largest phone company.

Breakup and reformation (1982–2004)

In 1982, U.S. regulators broke up the AT&T monopoly, requiring AT&T to divest its regional subsidiaries and turning them each into individual companies. These new companies were known as Regional Bell Operating Companies, or more informally, Baby Bells. AT&T continued to operate long distance services, but as a result of this breakup, faced competition from new competitors such as MCI and Sprint.

Southwestern Bell was one of the companies created by the breakup of AT&T Corp. The architect of divestiture for Southwestern Bell was Robert G. Pope. The company soon started a series of acquisitions. This includes the 1987 acquisition of Metromedia mobile business and the acquisition of several cable companies in the early 1990s. In the later half of the 1990s, the company acquired several other telecommunications companies, including some Baby Bells, while selling its cable business. During this time, the company changed its name to SBC Communications. By 1998, the company was in the top 15 of the Fortune 500, and by 1999 the company was part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (lasting through 2015).

Purchase of former parent and acquisitions (2005–2014)

In 2005, SBC purchased AT&T for $16 billion. After this purchase, SBC adopted the better-known AT&T name and brand, with the original AT&T Corp. still existing as the long-distance landline subsidiary of the merged company. The current AT&T claims the original AT&T Corp.'s history (dating to 1885) as its own, though its corporate structure only dates from 1983. It also retains SBC's pre-2005 stock price history, and all regulatory filings prior to 2005 are for Southwestern Bell/SBC, not AT&T Corp.

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

Recent developments (2014–present)

AT&T purchased the Mexican carrier Iusacell in late 2014, and two months later purchased the Mexican wireless business of NII Holdings, merging the two companies to create AT&T Mexico.

In July 2015, AT&T purchased DirecTV for $48.5 billion, or $67.1 billion including assumed debt, subject to certain conditions. AT&T subsequently announced plans to converge its existing U-verse home internet and IPTV brands with DirecTV, to create AT&T Entertainment.

In an effort to increase its media holdings, on October 22, 2016, AT&T announced a deal to buy Time Warner for $108.7 billion.

AT&T also owns approximately a 2% stake in Canadian-domiciled entertainment company Lionsgate.

On July 13, 2017, it was reported that AT&T would introduce a cloud-based DVR streaming service as part of its effort to create a unified platform across DirecTV and its DirecTV Now streaming service, with U-verse to be added soon. In October 2018, it was announced that the service Is set to launch in 2019

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 next year.

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." In order for AT&T to fully acquire Time Warner, the Department of Justice stated that the company must divest either DirecTV or Turner Broadcasting System.

As of 2017, AT&T is the world's largest telecommunications company. AT&T is also the second largest provider of mobile telephone services and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the United States.

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. However, on April 18, 2018, just a day before the public debut of Vrio, AT&T canceled the IPO due to market conditions.

On June 12, 2018, AT&T was given permission by U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon to go ahead with its $85 billion deal for Time Warner. The DOJ had attempted to stop the merger fearing it would harm competition. The merger closed two days after, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary and division of AT&T with a new name, WarnerMedia, announced the next day.

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 Broadcasting 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.

AT&T Latin America

AT&T Latin America, LLC
Formerly	AT&T International, Inc. (2017-2018)
Type	Division
Industry	Telecommunication
Founded	2017; 2 years ago
Headquarters	Dallas, Texas,United States
Area served	MexicoSouth America
Key people	Lori Lee (CEO)
Products	Wireless Satellite television
Revenue	US$8 billion (2017)
Parent	AT&T
Subsidiaries	AT&T Mexico Vrio
Website	www.att.com

AT&T Latin America (formerly AT&T International, Inc.) is a wholly owned division of AT&T which operates in Mexicoand 11 countries in South America.

History

In 2017, AT&T announced a new AT&T International corporate division housing AT&T Mexico, DirecTV Latin America and their stakes of SKY Brazil and Sky Mexico.

In October 2016, AT&T announced a deal to acquire Time Warner worth $85.4 billion (including assumed Time Warner debt). The proposed deal would give AT&T significant holdings in the media industry; AT&T's competitor Comcast had previously acquired NBCUniversal in a similar bid to increase its media holdings, in concert with its ownership of television and internet providers. If approved by federal regulators, the merger would bring Time Warner's properties under the same umbrella as AT&T's telecommunication holdings, including satellite provider DirecTV.

By the end of July, the company announced that, effective August 1, a new structure was created before the acquisition would close. On September 15, 2017, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources, that AT&T, the owner of DIRECTV's U.S. and Latin American divisions, had hired an advisor to consider offering AT&T Latin America on the public stock market. In November 2017, the U.S. Justice Department said it was moving to sue to block the AT&T-Time Warner merger. On November 20, 2017, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit over the acquisition; Makan Delrahim stated that the deal would "greatly harm American consumers". AT&T asserts that this suit is a "radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent". On December 22, 2017, the merger agreement deadline was extended to June 21, 2018. On April 19, 2018, the IPO was cancelled. On June 12, 2018, the AT&T-Time Warner merger was approved by a federal judge.Two days later, AT&T completed the acquisition of Time Warner, and a day later the company was renamed WarnerMedia.

On September 21, 2018, AT&T reclassified it four principal divisions which includes AT&T International which now have some assets moved out like the RSNs, an also merging Consumer Mobility, Technology and Business Mobility and renamed the company as AT&T Latin America.

Landline operating companies

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

·         Ameritech, acquired by SBC in 1999

·         AT&T Corp., acquired by SBC in 2005

·         BellSouth, acquired by AT&T in 2006

·         Pacific Telesis, acquired by SBC in 1997

·         Southwestern Bell, rebranded as SBC Communications in 1995, acquired AT&T Corporation and rebranded as AT&T Inc. in 2005

Former operating companies

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

·         Southern New England Telephone: sold to Frontier Communications in 2014

·         Woodbury Telephone: merged into Southern New England Telephone on June 1, 2007.

Future of rural landlines

AT&T stated that it would declare the intentions for its rural landlines on November 7, 2012. AT&T had previously announced that it was considering a sale of its rural landlines, which are not wired for AT&T's U-verse service; however, it has also stated that it may keep the business after all.

AT&T was not the first Baby Bell to sell off rural landlines. Ameritech sold some of its Wisconsin lines to CenturyTel in 1998; BellSouth sold some of its lines to MebTel in the 2000s; U S 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.

Corporate structure

AT&T Inc. has retained the holding companies it has acquired over the years resulting in the following corporate structure:

·         AT&T Inc., publicly traded holding company

·         AT&T Arkansas, AT&T Kansas, AT&T Missouri, AT&T Oklahoma, AT&T Southwest, AT&T Texas

·         AT&T Teleholdings Inc, AT&T East, AT&T Midwest, AT&T West

·         AT&T Illinois

·         AT&T Indiana

·         AT&T Michigan

·         AT&T Ohio

·         AT&T Wisconsin

·         AT&T California

·         AT&T Nevada

·         AT&T Corporation (acquired in 2005)

·         AT&T Alaska

·         AT&T South

·         AT&T Alabama, AT&T Florida, AT&T Georgia, AT&T Louisiana, AT&T Kentucky, AT&T Mississippi, AT&T North Carolina, AT&T South Carolina, AT&T Southeast, AT&T Tennessee

·         AT&T Communications

·         AT&T Mobility

·         Cricket Wireless

·         DirecTV

·         Cingular Wireless

·         AlienVault

·         WarnerMedia

·         HBO

·         Otter Media

·         Turner Broadcasting System

·         Warner Bros.

·         AT&T Latin America

·         AT&T Mexico

·         Vrio

·         Xandr

·         AppNexus

·         AT&T AdWorks

Historical financial performance

The financial performance of the company is reported to shareholders on an annual basis and a matter of public record. The unit (except where noted) is billions of US dollars. Where performance has been restated, the most recent statement of performance from an annual report is

used.