AT&T vs Verizon

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation, headquartered at Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas. AT&T Inc. began its existence as Southwestern Bell Corporation, one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies created in 1983 in the divestiture of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company following the 1982 United States v. AT&T antitrust lawsuit. Southwestern Bell changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995. In 2005, SBC purchased former parent AT&T Corp. and took on its branding, with the merged entity naming itself AT&T Inc. and using the iconic AT&T Corp. logo and stock-trading symbol.

Verizon Communications Inc., branded as Verizon, is an American broadband and telecommunications company, the largest U.S. wireless communications service provider as of September 2014, but is incorporated in Delaware. What eventually became Verizon was founded as Bell Atlantic, which was one of the seven Baby Bells that were formed after AT&T Corporation was forced to relinquish its control of the Bell System by order of the Justice Department of the United States. Bell Atlantic came into existence in 1984 with a footprint from New Jersey to Virginia, with each area having a separate operating company.