As Apple reportedly tests another iteration of its now-familiar iPhone, Forbes is looking back to 2006 and 2007, when AT&T gambled on a new device built not to its specifications but to those of Steve Jobs. In an interview, current AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega recounts how taking up the iPhone pushed AT&T from an aging landline company with a stake in wireless provider Cingular to a major wireless carrier in its own right — and how the iPhone changed the relationship between carriers and phone makers. It's part of a series of Forbes pieces on AT&T, including an interview with AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and a magazine article about the company's evolution.

Correction: Previously indicated Randall Stephenson as past rather than present AT&T CEO.