$917-543|$AT&T Versus Verizon: A Financial Comparisonplatforms represented the next catalyst for industry growth. Providers had responded by bundling services to attract and retain customers. At the same time, the proliferation of internet$-$enabled products had shifted most customers away from buying subsidized phones that locked them into long$-$term service contracts$\mathrm{.}2$Most customers were buying handsets on an installment basis, which allowed them to upgrade their phones more frequently, incur lower monthly service charges, and eliminate service contracts. To discourage customers from dropping their service, providers required customers to pay the outstanding equipment balance in full if they switched phone companies. The shift from subsidized devices toward installment plans had also shifted providers$$ revenue models. In the past, carriers had often used equipment as a loss leader and instead maximized service revenues and margins. As customers shifted toward installment plans, however, service revenues and margins had decreased, while equipment revenues and margins had increased$\mathrm{.}3$Ninety$-$four percent of the U$.$S$.$ population lived in an area with at least four providers$\mathrm{.}4$Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Skype, as well as regional and bulk resellers, enabled customers to make wireless calls$\mathrm{.}5$Most competition focused on price, network coverage, reliability, customer service, and the availability of new products and services$\mathrm{.}6$Network utilization and spectrum efficiency were key competitive drivers.Wireline SectorWireline networks provided voice, data, and video services to consumers, large and small enterprises, and other carriers on a wholesale basis.bLegacy circuit$-$switched networks had continued to decline as more customers cut the cord, opting for wireless service or Voice over Internet Protocol $($VoIP$)$ and data services using cable or fiber optics.cThe growth of mobile platforms did not mean, however, that fixed networks would be extinct.Most of a packet$$s journey was made over a wire; only the transmission between the device and a cell tower or WiFi router was wireless.dLike in the wireless sector, trends in customer and carrier behavior were intertwined with advances in technology. These advances had improved network capacity, decreasing the marginal cost of moving a packet from point A to point B$.$ In turn, improved efficiency and lower costs made new products and services available. This pattern was most evident in the movement toward IP$-$based data and video, where streaming entertainment services and use of cloud$-$based applications had become more popular. In addition, the movement toward IP$-$based networks changed the competitive dynamic. In most markets, network providers competed on the pricing of bundled services as well as on broadband capacity and reliability$\mathrm{.}7$Net NeutralityOn February $26,2015,$ the Federal Communications Commission $($FCC$)$ reclassified internet broadband services as telecommunications services. The ruling favored net neutrality, meaning that network providers of fixed broadband could not employ differential pricing or service quality based on application, site, user, or content. Traffic over fixed networks must be handled on a first$-$come, first$-$served basis. The ruling mandated the following: $($i$)$ internet broadband providers could not block bWireline, or landline, is physical wire or cable that connects two endpoints in a communications network. The term is synonymous with traditional telephony using twisted pairs of copper wire.cLegacy circuit$-$switched networks using twist pair refers to the traditional means of establishing a telecommunications channel using copper wires. This type of networking establishes a single physical connection between two endpoints that remains for the duration of a call.dPackets are units of data that are encoded based on internet protocol $($IP$)$ and travel along a network. Data packets contain raw information as well as routing information and certain types of metadata.For the exclusive use of E$.$ NASH, $2018.$This document is authorized for use only by ERIC NASH in MGT$510$ taught by Riley Busenelener, University of Holy Cross from Sep $2018$ to Mar $2019.$