“Breaking up Ma Bell started one of the greatest innovation cycles that led to a great portion of what we today take for granted. “
Quite possibly the greatest innovation cycle in the history of man. It had been pent up behind Ma Bell’s wall for decades.
Once broken, the Internet emerged as did TCP/IP. Then VoIP and streaming and smart phones/cellular.
Unlimited bandwidth over DWDM.
Everything the defines our modern era emerged out of the Bell break-up.
Ma Bell offered mobile phone service in 1946. One of the coinventors of TCP/IP spent time at Bell Labs where they hired many brilliant students fresh out of college. VOIP and some streaming came from upstarts but AT&T was not in the way. On the contrary they provided the audio conpression fundamentals and theory by hiring Manfred Schroeder. Only other place he would have gotten a job is a university. In fact there was a lot of mobility between Bell Labs (and GTE Labs and the others) and universities.
Not saying that Ma Bell was good, but often the goodness of Ma Bell only became apparent once the fundamental research that they funded became applied. Certainly they suppressed the MCIs of the world, but that was mainly because they had the government on their side.