The United States government broke up AT&T's telecommunications monopoly to encourage domestic market competition

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Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated that the November 13, 2026 Federal Aviation Administration outage did not appear to be a cyber attack

The Bell System actively attempted to prevent MCI from using microwave relay towers for low-cost long-distance telecommunications

The United States Department of Transportation had sought $30 billion in funding to update air traffic control equipment

Prior to November 2026, the United States Congress had allocated more than $12 billion to update air traffic control equipment

The Federal Communications Commission distinguished pure communications as message transport and data processing as computer enhancement and rearrangement of data

Following the November 13, 2026 ground stop, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked Congress for $50 billion for the air traffic control system

In the early 1970s, the Federal Communications Commission launched its Computer Inquiry to determine regulatory boundaries between telephone communications and data processing

The Bell System prohibited customers from attaching third-party privacy acoustic cups designed to create a cone of silence around the telephone mouthpiece

The Bell System opposed third-party gadgets designed to bridge landline telephone calls to mobile radio transceivers in vehicles

More than 3,000 airborne flights landed safely during the November 13, 2026 Federal Aviation Administration nationwide ground stop

On November 13, 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration declared a nationwide ground stop for U.S. air travel at 3:44 p.m. Eastern Time

The Federal Aviation Administration previously instituted a nationwide ground stop in 2023

More than 10,000 flights were canceled as a result of the November 13, 2026 nationwide ground stop

The November 13, 2026 air travel ground stop was the second nationwide ground stop in the United States since September 11, 2001

On November 13, 2026, air traffic controllers first observed intermittent telecommunications problems with radar and communications systems at 3:36 p.m. Eastern Time

United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the November 13, 2026 nationwide ground stop to outdated Federal Aviation Administration equipment becoming overloaded by data

The Federal Aviation Administration nationwide ground stop on November 13, 2026, lasted approximately four and a half hours before lifting around 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time

In early 2025, Donald Trump publicly threatened Nvidia with the loss of contracts and proposed a structural breakup of Nvidia

Meta, Google, and TikTok filed separate federal lawsuits in San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles challenging California Assembly Bill 1709

United Kingdom regulations prevent telecommunications provider BT from decommissioning a public phone box if it logs at least 52 calls in a year