As you can see from the above image, the destruction and slow reconstruction of AT&T is quite a story. With the T-Mobile merger currently being debated by Congress, potentially adding another chapter to the saga, we thought it might be a good idea to look at the genesis of AT&T Mobility as it stands today. It all started back in 2001 with AT&T Wireless…AT&T got its start in wireless communications when it purchased the Washington-based company McCaw Cellular in 1994. With a subscriber base just north of 2 million users, AT&T had officially thrown its hat into the cellular arena. The company continued to grow and collect end-users, and in 1997 — with current Sprint CEO Dan Hesse as its chairman and CEO — AT&T became the U.S.’s largest cellular provider. In 2000, the company was jettisoned from the main AT&T brand and in 2001 it turned into a separately traded company on the New York Stock Exchange; known as AT&T Wireless.In 2004, with customer subscriptions declining, the company began to accept bids for an acquisition. U.S.-based wireless provider Cingular — a venture of BellSouth and SBC Communications — agreed to purchase the company for $41 billion. Cingular, through the acquisition, ousted Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Vodafone, as the largest cellular provider in the States.Fast forwar
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