That certainly marked the end of something for them. But they continued to be a very powerful company for another 10-15 years. They leveraged their long distance business to buy everything in sight in the 90s (cable, mobile, even NCR). But by the time the internet bubble came, and everyone built out massive amounts of fiber, that ate the lunch of long distance in a matter of a few years (hence my "5 years" claim above -- they had to start selling assets in 2000 and were acquired in 2005).