I contracted for a telecom industry company (not a carrier, but a kind of service provider to carriers), and can confirm that pretty much the only reason they survived was regulatory capture. The company's core competency was responding to government RFPs and doing the necessary lobbying to get the contracts. It was quite eye-opening. They ended up with a big investment from a private equity firm which had a taste for cash cows.

On the plus side, everyone "worked" from home on Fridays.