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 $15.5 billion for the right to sell iPhones. Further analysis is available at Computerworld.
https://gizmodo.com/confirmed-sprint-will-carry-the-iphone-5846508
