From Hookswitch to Grave
This historical analysis explores the complex corporate evolution of AT&T and its role in the monopolization of the American telephone industry. It also highlights the forgotten contributions of Elisha Gray, a rival to Alexander Graham Bell who helped found Western Electric.
Why it matters
Understanding the history of corporate consolidation provides context for modern debates regarding tech monopolies and the evolution of essential infrastructure.
Through decades of consolidation, reorganization, and divestiture, AT&T left a famously complicated corporate history. One of the greatest enterprises in American history, arguably the greatest enterprise, AT&T has often rivaled the federal government in the size of its budget and workforce. One of the reasons, as we well know today, was monopolization and its close relative vertical integration. AT&T was the telephone system, or at least aspired to be, and for decades the meaning of "Universal Service" was that the service was designed, built, and operated by AT&T—universally.
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