"Sweep the debt under the rug all you want, it won't go away."
The jury is out on that. With the advent of Modern Monetary Policy, the Federal Reserve "prints" money to finance deficits. We can see the inflation now.
They are currently engaged in this charade where they "print" the money and then "loan" it to the government, putting federal debt on the books of the Fed. But, it is print and spend.
It is quite possible with all this print and spending, that inflation will cheapen AT&T's outstanding debt, where much of it is structured medium and long term. If that happens, at least part of AT&T's debt could essentially disappear.
Have a nice, reassuring look at the debt that the Fed is piling onto its books using newly created ("printed") money.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WALCL
And word now is, they want to replace Powell with a more dovish chair, which will result in increased Modern Monetary Theory.