Which Phone Company Has the Most Customers?

AT&T; is the nation's largest provider of local and long distance landline service. AT&T; grew significantly in 2006 when it acquired BellSouth, formerly Southwestern Bell Corporation. Although AT&T; has the most landline services, it has publicly declared its desire to move away from landline services because of the increased expense of maintaining wired telephone services and the additional use of Voice Over Internet Protocol as competition.

Voice Over Internet Protocol provide a unique service, allowing customers to make phone calls over their Internet connection. Subscription charges are usually less than other phone options and special equipment is usually not necessary to operate the service. Skype has the most customers for Voice Over Internet Protocol. Over 220 million people have downloaded Skype software to make phone calls. Vonage is the second most popular VoIP service provider with more than one million users.

Verizon and AT&T; are in a constant battle as the largest wireless service provider. Currently Verizon is winning the battle with over 93 million subscribers over AT&T;'s over 92 million subscribers number. Verizon's 2008 acquisition of Alltel and its ability to sell the iPhone has helped Verizon maintain its position as the nation's largest wireless service provider.

Although AT&T; is currently the second-ranked cell phone service provider in the country, a recent deal that the company made with T-Mobile may change that. In March 2011 AT&T; agreed to buy T-Mobile, the fourth largest cell phone company in the country. This acquisition is expected to increase AT&T;'s quantity of customers by 34 million customers. Regulators must approve the deal before the acquisition is complete and speculation exists as to whether the deal will be approved because it would allow AT&T; to have 39 percent of the market, raising questions about AT&T; becoming a monopoly.