> The IP guys didn't really figure that one out until it was too late. So they won the protocol fight, but didn't get paid. AT&T collapsed and was reborn throu

> The IP guys didn't really figure that one out until it was too late. So they won the protocol fight, but didn't get paid. AT&T collapsed and was reborn through mergers and slapping the facade name on a new entity, ending up in the present form as another soon to be bankrupt gigantic pile of debt with zero growth. Meanwhile all the money went to the IP world: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Cisco, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Samsung, etc. The IP world saw all the value gain, AT&T and Verizon - once you tally the debt, debt interest, mergers - have seen zero inflation adjusted gain in either their businesses or their stock market values in 20 years. > AT&T and Verizon are the two biggest players in cell phones You're incorrectly assessing where most of the money is in phones, which led you to the incorrect end conclusion about AT&T and Verizon being the ones who got paid. Apple all by itself is deriving more value from cell phones than AT&T and Verizon combined. Google search via mobile is generating ~$30 billion per year in operating income, that's more than Verizon is making from its entire mobile segment. Facebook got nearly all of its ~$24 billion in operating income over the prior four quarters from mobile. The IP/Netheads are the only ones who actually got paid.