Incorporated in 1968, CenturyLink (CTL) started off as a regional telecom company. Thanks to a series of large acquisitions over the years, CenturyLink is now one of America’s largest telecom services provider with about 10 million customer connections.Today CenturyLink operates through two business units: Business Segment (75% of revenue): provides internet, hybrid networking, cloud connectivity, security solutions, and voice services (about 20% of segment revenue) to businesses, governments, and wholesale customers. Consumer Segment (25% of revenue): provides broadband internet (50% of segment revenue), voice (landline phones – about a third of segment revenue), video, and other services to residential homes. 

Founded in 1983 as SBC Communications (the company bought AT&T in 2005 and adopted the more famous moniker), AT&T is a telecom and media conglomerate that operates four business segments: Communications (77% of revenue, 79% of operating income):provides wireless and wireline (phone and internet) services to consumers and businesses, as well as paid video (streaming, U-verse, DirecTV). Wireless services account for just over 50% of AT&T's total operating income. Pay-TV and voice services, two areas in secular decline, represent less than 15% of company-wide profits. WarnerMedia (18% of revenue, 20% of operating income): consists of all Time Warner assets, including Turner Cable TV channels, HBO, and Warner Brothers studios. AT&T acquired Time Warner for $85 billion in June 2018.

Founded in 1983 as Bell Atlantic, Verizon (VZ) is the largest wireless service provider in the U.S. The company’s 4G LTE network is available to more than 98% of the U.S. population. At the end of 2018, the company counted 118 million devices connected to its extensive wireless network.Wireless operations, which include voice and data services as well as equipment sales, generate close to 70% of Verizon’s revenue and account for nearly 90% of the company’s EBITDA (a proxy for cash flow).Wireline operations account for 23% of the company’s revenue but only about 12% of Verizon's EBITDA. This less-profitable segment includes traditional voice offerings, as well as pay-TV and internet services.Verizon has paid uninterrupted dividends for over 30 consecutive years [...]

Bell Canada Enterprises was founded in 1880 and changed its name to BCE (BCE) in 1983. The firm is one of Canada's big three telecom companies and provides wireless, wireline, internet, and television services to residential, business, and wholesale customers across the country.  BCE organizes its business into three segments:  Bell Wireless (37% of sales, 52% of operating profit): provides wireless voice and data services and equipment. BCE's 4G LTE network covers 99% of the Canadian population coast to coast. This is the fastest-growing and highest-margin part of the company. Bell Wireline (51% of sales, 37% of operating profit): broadband internet, satellite TV, and IPTV services account for 36% of company-wide sales, with home phone services accounting for the remaining 15% of revenue housed [...]