under terms of the 1956 consent agreement at&t agreed to
Kingsbury Commitment The entire network was nationalized during World War I from June 1918 to July 1919. Following re-privatization, AT&T resumed its near-monopoly position. In 1956, AT&T and the Justice Department agreed on a consent decree to end an antitrust suit brought against AT&T in 1949. Under the decree, AT&T restricted its activities to those related to running the national telephone system, and special projects for the federal government.