The end of AT&T: Ma Bell may be gone, but its innovations are everywhere

This paper looks back at AT&T's unparalleled history of research and innovation in the field of telecommunications following its acquisition by SBC Communications Inc. During the company's heyday, from 1925 to the mid-1980s, AT&T through Bell Labs brought us innovations and discoveries that changed the way we live and broadened our understanding of the universe. The list of innovations features many of the milestone developments of the 20th century including the transistor, the laser, the solar cell, fiber optics, and satellite communications. When it was a regulated monopoly, the company could afford to conduct risky future-oriented research. But as an ordinary corporation competing for customer dollars after its breakup and later spin-off, AT&T could no longer afford such luxury.