According to wireless guru John Stanton, he and Steve Jobs repeatedly discussed the feasibility of creating a “synthetic carrier” over Wi-Fi connections — thereby squeezing out AT&T — between 2005 and 2007.
Stanton didn’t elaborate on why he abandoned the idea, though I’d guess it’s because Jobs figured out how to get Sprint to give him $US15.5 billion for the right to sell iPhones.
Further analysis is available at Computerworld.