They were the reason we could make phone calls. Verizon entered to say "can you hear me now." Some said "good" but some said, why did AT&T buy DirecTV? Jokes aside that "T" is better known these days as T-rump, this is a vital company that has tried bold moves and hence might do so again. Perhaps it will be in HD audio and future iterations of broadband super highway access/pricing/profit, but its level of importance in the landscape is easy to see is lower these days.