Profit most often rests on the asymmetry of information, thats why monopolies are so profitable
Asymmetry of information is what got you to the top. You know more than your competition, more on a productive process, on consumer behavior, on business partners, on leveraging financial avenues, on political "contributions", on questionable use of insider information, etc.
And Information is what keeps you at the top: knowing who to "lobby" to create convenient regulation that hurts your competition the most, is the most effective way monopolies use to stay that way.
Monopolies are not monopolies in the abstract, they have to fight everyday to keep being a monopoly and they do that by leveraging information asymmetry.
> Or maybe a company is on top because of their execution.
I already explained that part.
That is what I wrote, yes. AT&T knew who to "lobby". That is information asymmetry.
That is why, even if you know who to lobby you can't get a meeting, but they meet everyday. You don't know who to bribe to get a meeting. And on and on.