Kingsbury Commitment

The Kingsbury Commitment was a 1913 agreement between AT&T and the United States government in which AT&T agreed to divest its controlling interest in Western Union and cease acquiring independent telephone companies, in exchange for the government's tolerance of AT&T's monopoly position. It was the foundational regulatory compact of American telecommunications: the state would protect AT&T from competition, and AT&T would provide universal service under regulated rates.

The Kingsbury Commitment established the template for infrastructural monopoly in the twentieth century — not a monopoly achieved through market competition but a monopoly licensed by the state in exchange for public obligations. This pattern would repeat in broadcasting, cable, and eventually broadband: the state grants exclusive control of a coordination infrastructure in exchange for service obligations that are progressively weakened by regulatory capture.