What Is AT&T Time Warner?

AT&T Time Warner isn't an existing company. AT&T is one company, and Time Warner is another. But due to the interesting history of these two companies, and their one-time joint venture, there was once a temporary, partial union of the two companies and their interests.

AT&T

AT&T is a communications and entertainment service provider. The company offers home phone and cellular phone service, high-speed broadband Internet service and digital television service. The company also offers these services in combination through bundles -- packages which include multiple services. The company also offers where available its branded U-verse line of faster fiber-optic services, including digital television, Internet and home telephone service.

Time Warner

Time Warner, like AT&T, offers residential services spanning both communications and entertainment. The company offers high-speed Internet service, mobile Internet, digital home phone service and digital television service. Unlike AT&T, Time Warner doesn't offer cellular phone service. But like AT&T the company also allows you to purchase bundles combining multiple services.

The Deal

In February of 1999, AT&T and Time Warner signed a 20-year services contract, in which they agreed to create a joint venture. At the time of signing, Time Warner was the largest cable provider in the United States. The deal allowed AT&T to use Time Warner's network of cables to provide telephone service to customers whose homes were connected to that network. This allowed AT&T to provide phone service via cable lines to around 40 percent of U.S. homes.

Current Status

Although the contract between AT&T and Time Warner remains in place until 2019, the companies have taken no further steps to unify either their corporate structures or the services they provide. In fact, the joint venture was unwound in 2002, with AT&T receiving shares in Time Warner Cable as compensation. Both companies now continue to offer their own services, which can be in competition in a particular location.

References

• Philly.com: 20-Year Cable Deal Signed by AT&T, Time Warner; Patricia Horn; February 1999
• CNET; AT&T, Time Warner Cut Cable Deal; John Borland; February 1999
• AT&T: U-verse
• "The Telegraph"; AOL Time Warner to Get Assets From Joint Venture; Simon English; August 2002

About the Author

Melanie Jo Triebel has been writing since 2003. Her articles have appeared in such publications as the "ARIAS U.S. Quarterly" and the "Sidley Reinsurance Law Report." Triebel holds a B.A. in music from Chapman University and a J.D. from the Chapman University School of Law. She has practiced law for nearly a decade and is licensed in California and Illinois.

Photo Credits

• Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images