AT&T Mobility LLC

AT&T logo
Type	Subsidiary of AT&T Inc.
Industry	Wireless telecommunications
Founded	2000 (2000)
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Area served	United States Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands
Key people	Ralph de la Vega, President and CEO - AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets Peter A. Ritcher, CFO
Products	Mobile telephony Wireless broadband services
Revenue	US$31.4 billion (2010)
Employees	70,000 (2010)
Parent	BellSouth (40%, 2000-2006) SBC/AT&T (60%, 2000-2006; 100% 2006-present)
Website	wireless.att.com

AT&T Mobility LLC (branded and referred to as AT&T, formerly Cingular Wireless LLC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T that provides wireless services to 103 million subscribers ^[1] in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. AT&T Mobility is the second largest wireless telecommunications provider in the United States and Puerto Rico below Verizon Wireless, which has 108.3 million customers as of the third quarter of 2011.^[2] AT&T Mobility is headquartered in the Lenox Park area of DeKalb Co. Georgia, just outside Atlanta.^[3]

Originally Cingular Wireless LLC from 2000 to 2007, a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth, the company acquired the old AT&T Wireless in 2004; SBC later acquired the original AT&T and re-branded as "AT&T". Cingular became wholly owned by AT&T in December 2006 as a result of AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth.

In January 2007, Cingular confirmed it would re-brand itself under the AT&T name. Although the legal corporate name change occurred immediately, for both regulatory and brand-awareness reasons both brands were used in the company's signage and advertising during a transition period.^[4] The transition concluded in late June, just prior to the rollout of the Apple iPhone.

On March 20, 2011, AT&T Mobility announced its intention to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion. If it had received government and regulatory approval, AT&T would have had more than 130 million subscribers,^[5] but the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission opposed the move and in December 2011 AT&T backed out of their effort with the merger.^[6]

Services[link]

Among the services that AT&T aggressively promotes is its Rollover Minutes service which allows customers to keep unused minutes from month to month on a twelve-month rolling cycle on its popular nationwide plans. Beginning in July 2007, AT&T allows its AT&T Unity plan users to have Rollover, a service which was exclusive to the Nation plans. AT&T also launched video share in 2007, in which a mobile caller can stream live video from one phone to another over the 3G network with video share capable phones. This allows one mobile phone user to view video from another user's camera through the mobile phone in real time. AT&T also has A-list, similar to former competitor Alltel's program launched on April 20, 2006 branded "My Circle." AT&T rolled out the A-list program on September 20, 2009. Customers with individual Nation plans of $59.99 or higher can use A-List with Rollover to select up to five domestic phone numbers to call anytime—including landlines and wireless numbers on any network—without using any of the minutes in their plan. FamilyTalk customers with plans of $89.99 or more can select up to ten numbers which any person in the FamilyTalk plan can call as much as they want.^[7] Effective September 1, 2011, the A-List feature is no longer available to new consumer and IRU customers. Existing customers who had A-List on their account prior to September 1, 2011, are able to keep the feature as long as they stay on a qualifying rate plan, subject to AT&T's right to discontinue A-List at any time in the future, with notice.

Employees[link]

AT&T Mobility headquarters (and other AT&T departments) in Lenox Park adjacent to Atlanta

A large number of AT&T Mobility employees are unionized, belonging to the Communications Workers of America. The CWA represented roughly 15,000 of the previous 20,000 formerly AT&T Wireless employees as of early 2006.^[8] As of the end of 2009, the CWA website claims roughly 40,000 workers of AT&T Mobility are represented by the union.^[9]

History[link]

Cingular Wireless LLC was founded in 2000 as a joint venture of SBC Communications and BellSouth. The joint venture created the nation's second-largest carrier. Cingular grew out of a conglomeration of more than 100 companies,^[10] with 12 well-known regional companies with Bell roots. The 12 companies included:

• Three companies spun off from Advanced Mobile Phone Service, Inc.
  • Ameritech Mobile Communications, LLC
  • BellSouth Mobility, LLC
  • Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems, LLC
• BellSouth Mobility DCS, Inc.
• BellSouth Wireless Data, LLC
• CCPR Services Inc. d/b/a Cellular One of Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands
• Pacific Bell Wireless, LLC
• Pacific Bell Wireless Northwest, LLC
• SBC Wireless, LLC
• SNET Mobility, LLC
• Southwestern Bell Wireless, Inc.

SBC Wireless had previously operated in several northeast markets under the "Cellular One" brand, while BellSouth's wireless operations incorporated the former Houston Cellular.

Cingular's lineage can be traced back to Advanced Mobile Phone Service, which was a subsidiary of AT&T created in 1978 to provide cellular service nationwide. AMPS, Inc. was divided among the Regional Bell Operating Companies as part of the Bell System divestiture.

With the exception of Pacific Bell and BellSouth Mobility DCS, the digital network consisted of D-AMPS technology. The Pacific Bell and BellSouth Mobility DCS networks used GSM technology on the PCS frequency band (1900 MHz).

In October 2007, AT&T’s president and chief executive officer Stan Sigman announced his retirement. Ralph de la Vega, group president-Regional Telecom & Entertainment, was named as president and CEO, AT&T Mobility.^[11]

AT&T Wireless merger[link]

In February 2004, after a bidding war with Britain's Vodafone Plc (45% owners of Verizon Wireless) Cingular announced that it would purchase its struggling competitor, AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., for $41 billion. This was more than twice the company's trading value.

The merger was completed on October 26, 2004. The combined company had a customer base of 46 million people at the time, making Cingular the largest wireless provider in the United States. AT&T Wireless was then legally renamed New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc. ^[12] Shortly after, new commercials were shown with the "AT&T" transforming into the Cingular logo, and with the Cingular logo's text turned blue to acknowledge the change. Some of the companies that comprised Cingular, such as BellSouth Mobility, ceased to exist when they were legally merged into the operating company subsidiary AT&T Wireless PCS, LLC, which was renamed New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC.^[13]

First announced on June 22, 2005, Cingular Wireless announced the intention to divest its Caribbean and Bermuda operations and licenses which it acquired from the acquisition of AT&T Wireless, to Irish-owned and Jamaica-based Digicel Group under undisclosed financial terms.^{[14][15][16][17]}

In 2006, one year following the deal, a high-ranking source allegedly close to the sale pointed the Barbados Daily Nation Newspaper towards some SEC filings made by Cingular which were said to establish an idea of the approximate sale price of the deal. According to the SEC filings Cingular was paid around US$122 million, with much of that $122m cost to Digicel going towards the purchasing of the former AT&T Wireless assets in Barbados.^{[citation needed]}

At the time of the merger, there were two networks: the historic AT&T Blue Network and the Cingular Orange Network. Both networks contained a mix of both TDMA and GSM facilities. Approximately 50,000 cell sites had to be melded together. From a technical standpoint, the "blue" and "orange" networks were considered different networks until integration was completed in 2005.^[18] Enhanced Network Selection (ENS) was used to home cellular devices on either the "blue" or "orange" network during this process.

GSM facilities[link]

In California, Nevada, Northern New Jersey and New York City, Cingular and T-Mobile USA maintained and shared a GSM-1900 network prior to the acquisition of AT&T Wireless, through a joint venture known as GSM Facilities. The network sharing agreement allowed Cingular to offer local service in northern New Jersey and New York City and T-Mobile USA to offer service in California and Nevada. On May 25, 2004, Cingular and T-Mobile USA announced their intention to dissolve the agreement contingent on Cingular's successful acquisition of AT&T Wireless, the Cingular network was transferred to T-Mobile USA, with Cingular continuing work on the GSM facilities at AT&T Wireless sites.^[19]

Fiber network switching facilities[link]

AT&T has a global subsea Tier-1 fiber network switching facility on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, in conjunction with University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park.

Radio Frequency Summary[link]

The following is a list of known frequencies which AT&T employs in the United States:

Network coverage[link]

An AT&T Mobility Device Support Center in Las Vegas, Nevada

As a result of its formation through mergers and acquisitions, as well as the rapid technological change in the wireless industry, AT&T Mobility operates the largest digital voice and data network within its United States footprint reaching over 300 million people or 97% established coverage using different wireless communication standards. The core technology standard for the AT&T Mobility wireless network is called Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM. Much of the AT&T Mobility network footprint now uses GSM-standard 3G wireless technologies (UMTS/HSPA) for simultaneous circuit switched voice and packet switched data communications. AT&T Mobility also offers Push To Talk (PTT) service using network technology from Kodiak Networks.

Cingular, the predecessor to AT&T Mobility, supported legacy D-AMPS/TDMA and analog wireless networks. In March 2006, Cingular announced that these networks would be shut down by February 2008. As of March 31, 2007 Cingular ended TDMA supported for GoPhone (pre-paid) customers. On February 18, 2008, AT&T Mobility officially ended service on their AMPS and TDMA network, except for in areas previously operated by Dobson Communications; the Dobson AMPS and TDMA network was shut down March 1, 2008.

Networks formerly operated by AT&T Mobility predecessors including Cingular also include various paging services and the Cingular Interactive division, which became Velocita Wireless. Velocita was later purchased by Sprint Nextel.^[20]

The AT&T Mobility wireless data network began in 2002 as a Cingular initiative called "Project Genesis" that involved a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) overlay of the entire wireless network. Project Genesis was completed by the end of 2004. Later, this network was upgraded to EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) across the GSM footprint.

In 2005, AT&T Mobility launched a broadband network known as "BroadbandConnect," based on UMTS and High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), to counter Verizon Wireless and Sprint's EV-DO networks. UMTS service was launched on December 6, 2005 in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, San Jose, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Puerto Rico, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore and Washington D.C. and expanded to all major metropolitan markets by the end of 2006. As of early 2009, AT&T Mobility has completed its upgrade of the 3G network to HSUPA,^[21] and will begin a new round of upgrades to the HSPA+ standard.^[22]

Future networks[link]

AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and most other mobile phone companies have chosen to build their new "4G" networks, with "Long Term Evolution" or LTE technology. LTE is the next step from 3G/WCDMA & HSPA for many already on the GSM technology curve, including AT&T. This new radio access technology will be optimized to deliver very fast data rates of up to 100 Mbit/s downlink and 50 Mbit/s uplink (peak rates). AT&T Networks will be throttling down the speeds to ensure all customers will be able to use LTE efficiently. Speeds are expected to be actually 6 Mbit/s to 8 Mbit/s with the exception of around 20 Mbit/s (Peak Rate), however this will change in time.

Designed to be backwards-compatible with GSM and HSPA, LTE incorporates Multiple In Multiple Out (MIMO) in combination with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in the downlink and Single Carrier FDMA in the uplink to provide high levels of spectral efficiency and end user data rates exceeding 100 Mbit/s, coupled with major improvements in capacity and reductions in latency. LTE will support channel bandwidths from 1.25 MHz to 20 MHz and both FDD and TDD operation. MetroPCS has activated the first LTE network, which is fully operational. AT&T Mobility has not set an official date to begin building their LTE network. Depending on the amount of spectrum the carrier deploys it is expected AT&T will deploy 10 MHz = 70 Mbit/s.

AT&T has noted that they will begin their upgrade to HSPA 14.4 as a part of their effort to enhance their 3G wireless network as well as the transition to LTE. AT&T stated that their upgrades would be completed at the end of 2010 after completing backhaul connections leading from cell sites to AT&T switching facilities.^[23] In addition, AT&T has stated that their LTE network will be completed by year end 2013.

"Cingular is now The New AT&T"[link]

On November 20, 2005, Ed Whitacre, then CEO of the newly merged SBC/AT&T, announced plans to market Cingular's service under the AT&T brand. BellSouth spokesman Jeff Battcher countered that the terms of the joint venture allow either party to sell the service under another name, and that he believes they will be using the brand to market to business customers.^[24] Cingular president Stan Sigman concurred with BellSouth's position, indicating that the Cingular brand would continue but be sold under the AT&T brand where offered in packages with other AT&T services, such as data and wireline telephony.

However, AT&T, Inc. announced on March 5, 2006^[25] that it would acquire BellSouth. The acquisition was finalized on December 29, 2006 when the FCC gave its final approval. According to AT&T, the company began the rebranding of Cingular Wireless to "AT&T".^[26]

On January 12, 2007 AT&T announced^[27] a major rebranding transition campaign to transition Cingular to the new AT&T ("in February 2009 "new" was removed). The former Cingular stores, after being rebranded to AT&T, sold all AT&T products and services: wireless, landline, Internet, U-Verse, and more.

Cingular to AT&T Rebranding Transition:

• On January 14, 2007, AT&T launched the transition of the Cingular brand to AT&T in television advertising and customer communications, by creating the "Cingular is now The New AT&T" logo.
• On April 15, 2007, AT&T Mobility began to introduce new AT&T branded mobile phones and devices. The alpha tag (portion of phone's screen which displays the name of the network on which the phone is connected) on new phone activations also started reading "AT&T".
• Around May 11, 2007, Cingular's name was replaced with "AT&T" in most advertisements.
• On May 19, 2007, the AT&T logo replaced the Cingular logo on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series car it sponsors, owned by Richard Childress Racing and driven by Jeff Burton. (But it was soon removed; see below for details.)
• On May 24, 2007, Palm, Inc. issued an update for Cingular-branded Treo 680 smartphones that, among other things, updated the phone's branding (startup and shutdown screens, wallpaper backgrounds) from Cingular to AT&T.^[28]
• As of May 31, 2007, the former cingular.com website redirects to wireless.att.com and no longer features any Cingular logos whatsoever.
• In June 2007, customer service phone lines started being answered "Thank you for calling The New AT&T, about your wireless service." Additionally, all new SIM cards are branded with the AT&T logo.
• By June 16, 2007, most of the phones on the company's network displayed AT&T as the carrier instead of Cingular.
• By early 2009, AT&T had dropped "The New" part of its brand from all advertising and communications. Customer service phone lines are answered "Thank you for calling AT&T."
• As of March 2012, www.cingular.com can still be used to access AT&T's website.

Acquisition of Dobson Communications[link]

On November 15, 2007, AT&T completed its acquisition of Dobson Communications. Dobson marketed the Cellular One brand in rural and suburban locations in various areas of the United States, including Alaska. AT&T bought Dobson for $13 per share, as well as assuming the regional carrier's debt, which cost the carrier about $5.1 billion total. The U.S. Justice Department had ordered AT&T Inc. to sell assets in five U.S. states to complete its $2.8 billion Dobson Communications Corp. takeover. The department ordered AT&T to divest certain cell-phone assets in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas where AT&T and Dobson are most competitive. At the time, AT&T was the largest U.S. cell-phone provider, with more than 81 million subscribers in 50 states. Dobson's Cellular One was the ninth largest, with 1.7 million subscribers in 17 states. Dobson had been an AT&T roaming partner since 1990, and the acquisition is expected to bring growth to Dobson's current markets. The purchase allowed AT&T to operate in the more rural areas of the United States including Alaska & West Virginia.^[29]

Acquisition of Centennial Communications[link]

On November 7, 2008, AT&T announced its plans to acquire Centennial Wireless for $944 million. AT&T said that the acquisition would provide customers with better coverage in the Southeast, Midwest, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The deal will also give AT&T more highly coveted 850 MHz spectrum in the current Centennial Wireless coverage area. In addition, Centennial also provides switched voice and high-capacity data and Internet Protocol solutions for business customers in Puerto Rico. The transaction will give AT&T a wired network presence in Puerto Rico and will allow the company to better serve its multinational business customers with a presence in this U.S. territory. AT&T will gain Centennial's 893,000 subscribers after divestiture requirements. The deal was finalized on November 6, 2009.^[30]

Attempt to acquire T-Mobile USA[link]

On March 20, 2011, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom announced that AT&T had agreed to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a deal estimated to be worth $39 billion in cash and stock. AT&T said the deal is expected to close in 12 months and is subject to regulatory approval. As of June 2011, it is being examined by the FCC.^[31] On August 31, 2011, the United States Department of Justice formally announced that it had filed a lawsuit to block the merger.^[32] On November 22, 2011, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski recommended sending AT&T Inc.'s proposed T-Mobile acquisition to an administrative law judge for review and a hearing.^[33] On November 23, 2011 AT&T withdrew its application with the FCC regarding the acquisition of T-Mobile USA. They also indicated that they would recognize a $4 Billion dollar accounting charge in the event of a deal collapse. That charge covers a $3 Billion cash breakup fee and $1 Billion as the market value for the spectrum they will be required to transfer to T-Mobile if the deal fails to complete.^[34]

Marketing[link]

"Fewest dropped calls"[link]

During the first quarter of 2006, Telephia reported that during an extensive nationwide test of major wireless carriers in 350 metropolitan markets around the country, Cingular dropped the fewest number of calls across the country. Cingular in turn began aggressively advertising the "Allover Network," citing Telephia as "the leading independent research company." Telephia's report was in stark contrast to the Consumers Union publication, Consumer Reports, based on a survey of 50,000 of its members in 18 cities, which criticized Cingular for static and dropped calls.^[35] Furthermore, J.D. Power and Associates consistently ranked Cingular at or near the bottom of every geographical region in its 2006 Wireless Call Quality Study, which is based on a smaller survey of 23,000 wireless users. This campaign had to come to an abrupt end.

Telephia, which tests wireless networks by making over 6 million calls per year in what it claims is the world's largest wireless network test program, initially refused to provide details on its study, and a spokesman for the company has said, according to the Boston Globe, that "Cingular shouldn't have even mentioned the company's name to a reporter."^[36] The research company later stated that Cingular did indeed have a "statistically significant lower dropped-call rate than the competition across some market/time period groupings", but that Telephia had "no knowledge of the specific methodology (markets, time periods or statistical thresholds) that Cingular used for its 'lowest dropped call' claim."^[37] While AT&T has abandoned its verbal claim of "The Fewest Dropped Calls" in its commercials, it continues to show situations where two persons are speaking with each other on their phones, and one of the users' call drops. AT&T now states "We are still continuing to run ads that emphasize the importance of not dropping calls. That campaign is continuing.^[38]

iPhone[link]

On June 29, 2007 the Apple iPhone was introduced to the U.S. market, which made AT&T the exclusive carrier for the device within the United States until February 10, 2011, when the iPhone 4 was launched on the Verizon network.

Teething problems with AT&T's billing process emerged soon after the iPhone's release, as early adopters started receiving exceptionally detailed monthly telephone bills^[39][40] with one of the most notable being the 300-page iPhone bill that was featured in an online video by blogger Justine Ezarik.^[41][42]

Apple launched the iPhone 3G with AT&T on July 11, 2008. Although specific AT&T sales numbers are unavailable, Apple announced that over 1 million iPhone 3G devices were sold during the first three days – in contrast, according to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, “It took 74 days to sell the first one million original iPhones." ^[43] In August 2008, Best Buy announced that it would begin selling the iPhone 3G for use on the AT&T network.^[44] In September 2008, AT&T announced that it would also sell the iPhone 3G in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.^[45]

In the United States, the iPhone 3G is available for purchase with or without an AT&T contract, as most big box retailers, like Best Buy, will sell the device without a contract.^[46] AT&T is rumored to have heavily subsidized the iPhone's price to reach a broader spectrum of consumers.

On December 27, 2009 reports began to surface that AT&T had suspended online sales of the iPhone.^[47] Spokesman Fletcher Cook said that the phone company periodically "modifies" its distribution channels, but had no further comment on the suspension of sales in the New York City area.^[48] One AT&T employee incorrectly stated that, "New York wasn't ready for the iPhone," and that it lacked a sufficient number of cell towers to meet the heavy data demands imposed upon the network by iPhone users.^[49] Sales of the popular iPhone resumed December 30, 2009.^[50] This incident has revived speculation that AT&T's wireless network is not up to the demands of the current generation of 3G smartphones.^[47][51] The official AT&T statement is that a large amount of fraudulent activity caused the withdrawal of sales in the area.

The iPhone 4 was released on June 24, 2010. It brought a number of new features like an upgraded camera, flash, a new exterior design, upgraded screen, and the new version of Apple's software. According to Apple, over 1.7 million iPhone 4 units were sold in the first few days, which is the most out of any phone ever sold. These sales propelled AT&T to strong Q2 results.

Android-based smart phones[link]

On February 18, 2010, AT&T announced that on March 7, 2010 it would introduce its first smart phone based on Google's Android operating system,^[52] the Motorola Backflip.^[53][54] On March 22, 2010, AT&T announced that its second Android handset would be the Dell Aero, a revised version of the Dell Mini 3.^[52] However, the second Android phone AT&T released was the HTC Aria ^[55][56][57] which was announced on June 14, 2010 and released on June 20, 2010. The Samsung Captivate, which is part of the Galaxy S family, was released on AT&T's network on July 18, 2010. In addition to devices released on AT&T were a line of handsets manufactured by Motorola. The Motorola Flipout, followed by the Motorola Flipside and the Motorola Bravo all run Android 2.1 and were all released Q4 2010. Three new 4G Android devices were announced for release within the first and second quarter of the fiscal year 2011 including the Motorola Atrix 4G, the HTC Inspire 4G, and the Samsung Infuse 4G. HTC Inspire 4G being the first, proceeded by the Motorola Atrix 4G are currently available through AT&T's 4G network.^[58] These three devices are all running Android 2.2 (froyo) and are expected to be upgraded to Android 2.3 gingerbread later in the year along with an update to 'enable' 4G uploads. Unlike other US networks with Android-based phones, AT&T did not allow non-Market Apps to be installed. However on May 16, 2011 AT&T announced that some current and future Android devices will come with an option to allow the installation of unofficial applications.^[59]

webOS-based smart phones[link]

On January 6, 2010, Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility announced during the AT&T Developer summit at CES 2010 that AT&T would have two webOS devices in the first half of 2010, the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus—updated versions of the Palm Pre & Pixi, with more memory and updated hardware.

Microsoft Windows Phone 7[link]

On November 8, 2010, AT&T and Microsoft released three Windows Phone 7s. One is made by HTC known as the HTC Surround. It is known for having a slide out Dolby-Surround sound speaker. One is made by Samsung known as the Focus. The Focus includes a 4-inch (100 mm) Super-amoled screen and is very similar to the Galaxy S line also made by Samsung. And the last is the LG Quantum which is known for having a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. All phones include a 5-mp camera with flash, a display with WVGA (800x480) resolution, and a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. In 2011, HTC released its latest phone called the HTC HD7S. It has an 5 megapixel camera with dual flash, a 4.3 screen, and does not have HTC Sense (Windows Phone has HTC Hub, an application, which is similar to Sense). It also has a stand which is he metal piece surrounding the camera, making it one of possibly 4 of the HTC line-up, the others being the HTC EVO, the Surround, and the HD7.

Calling plans and features[link]

AT&T Mobility sells a variety of wireless services, including individual plans, family plans, and GoPhone (prepaid) plans.

Mobile to Mobile[link]

All postpaid monthly rate plans (and most prepaid plans) include unlimited minutes for calls to or from any of AT&T's wireless subscribers. Night & weekend minutes were deducted before unlimited M2M minutes until March 2010, in which AT&T stated on wireless bills that M2M minutes would no longer deplete N/W minutes on plans without unlimited N/W minutes. As of November 2009, all postpaid voice plans (except for the "Nation 450" ) include unlimited night & weekend usage. If all N&W voice minutes are used, calls placed to non-AT&T wireless customers are deducted from the monthly package of anytime minutes. Any unused "anytime" minutes rollover to the next month, and expire after 12 months if not used.

Mobile to Any Mobile[link]

On February 10, 2011, AT&T started offering unlimited mobile calling to any mobile phone on any service provider bundled with unlimited messaging (text, picture, and video). ^[60][61]

AT&T A-List[link]

As of September 2011 "AT&T A-List" is no longer offered, although it is still supported for existing customers who currently have it.

AT&T Unity[link]

AT&T Unity is a service offered for users of landline and wireless AT&T service. It provides free unlimited calling to users of AT&T landline and wireless services. AT&T Unity customers also receive "Rollover" minutes and night and unlimited weekend minutes. (As of early 2010 "AT&T Unity" is no longer offered, although it is still supported for existing customers who have it.)

Mobile phone insurance[link]

AT&T Mobility allows its customers to have mobile phone insurance in case of loss or accidental damage. Asurion is the administrator of the insurance program from AT&T. All phones are covered under the mobile phone insurance plan except AT&T GoPhones.^[62] Customers are required to pay a deductible for each time they make an insurance claim, and are only allowed two claims per 12-month period.

As of July 17, 2011 AT&T and Asurion announced that the Apple iPhone will be insurable with their Mobile Protection Pack service.

Slogans[link]

• "Fits you best" (2001–2004)
• "Raising the bar" (2004–2006)
• "Your world. Delivered" (2006-1st quarter of 2010)
• "Rethink possible" (2010–present.)

Controversies[link]

Cingular/AT&T NASCAR sponsorship controversy[link]

Cingular Wireless began its sponsorship of the #31 Chevrolet, owned by Richard Childress Racing, in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 2002. Two years later, when Nextel Communications (now Sprint Nextel) purchased the naming rights to NASCAR's top division (rebranding the division as the Nextel Cup, and later the Sprint Cup), Cingular and Alltel, sponsor of the #12 Dodge (owned by Penske Racing and driven by Ryan Newman), were allowed to stay as sponsors under a grandfather clause. In early 2007, following its purchase by AT&T, Cingular began a re-branding effort to the AT&T Mobility brand. NASCAR quickly claimed that a clause in their contract with Sprint Nextel would not allow Cingular to change either the name or brand advertised on the #31 car.

After trying and failing to persuade NASCAR to approve the addition of the AT&T globe logo to the rear of the car, AT&T filed a lawsuit against NASCAR on March 16, 2007. On May 18, AT&T won a preliminary injunction in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta and, following a failed emergency motion for a stay by NASCAR on May 19, re-branded the #31 car, now driven by Jeff Burton, in time for the Nextel All-Star Challenge that evening.^[63][64] NASCAR was later granted an appeal to be heard on August 2.

On June 17, NASCAR announced it had filed a US$100 million dollar lawsuit against AT&T and would like AT&T and all other telecommunications companies out of the sport in 2008.^[65]

On August 13, a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit cleared the way for NASCAR to prevent AT&T Inc. from featuring its logo on the car. The 11th Circuit threw out a lower court's ruling that prevented NASCAR from stopping AT&T's plans. The appeals court remanded the case to the district court.^[66]

At first practice for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 24, the #31 car was colored orange and black, but was bare; that is, no primary sponsor (but associate sponsors appeared) were on the car, similar to Formula One cars run in races where tobacco advertising was prohibited. The pit crew wore grey Richard Childress Racing shirts and Burton had a plain orange fire suit with associate sponsors. The car which carried a "subliminal advertising" scheme arrived in a black hauler with only the number 31 on the side. NASCAR officials said the car would not have made it through inspection with the AT&T logos.^[67] During that weekend, AT&T claimed that two alternate paint schemes proposed by AT&T—one advertising its "go phone" and another with the old Cingular slogan "more bars in more places" that AT&T recently brought back—were rejected by NASCAR. The Go Phone scheme had been used in the past.^[68] NASCAR later denied these claims.^[69]

The car remained bare on race night on August 25, although ESPN aired the AT&T logo during shots from its in-car camera. Fox Sports had done so earlier in the dispute, with the words "Cingular is the new AT&T" on-screen during these shots.

On September 7, 2007, a settlement was reached where AT&T Mobility could remain on the #31 car until the end of 2008, but the associate sponsorship of the #29 Nationwide Series Holiday Inn Chevrolets not affected because they are in lower series. ^[70]

Richard Childress Racing announced the AT&T Mobility sponsorship will move to Grand American Road Racing Association sportscar racing in 2009 with the sponsorship of the Childress-Howard Motorsports #4 AT&T Pontiac Daytona Prototype sportscar. Childress is a part-owner of this team.

Competitors[link]

AT&T is the second largest mobile carrier in the United States, based on customer totals. AT&T's competitors are (from largest to smallest):

• Verizon
• Sprint
• T-Mobile USA
• TracFone Wireless
• MetroPCS
• U.S. Cellular
• Cricket
• Claro in Puerto Rico

Verizon Wireless with 101.1 million subscribers.^[31]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of AT&T Mobility FAQ

• AT&T Mobility
• AT&T Mobility LLC at Google Finance
• AT&T Mobility LLC at Hoover's
• AT&T Mobility LLC at Yahoo! Finance

AT&T Inc.

The AT&T logo.
Type	Public company
Traded as	NYSE: T BMV: T FWB: SOBA Dow Jones Component S&P 500 Component
Industry	Telecommunications
Predecessor(s)	American Telephone and Telegraph Company
Founded	October 5, 1983 (1983-10-05)[1]
Headquarters	Whitacre Tower, Downtown, Dallas, Texas, United States
Key people	Randall Stephenson (Chairman, President & CEO)[2]
Services	Fixed line and mobile telephony, broadband and fixed-line internet services, digital television
Revenue	US$ 126.723 billion (2011)[3]
Operating income	US$ 09.218 billion (2011)[3]
Net income	US$ 03.944 billion (2011)[3]
Total assets	US$ 270.344 billion (2011)[3]
Total equity	US$ 105.534 billion (2011)[3]
Employees	256,420 (2011)[3]
Parent	American Telephone and Telegraph Company (1983)
Subsidiaries	AT&T Corp. AT&T Mobility BellSouth Southwestern Bell AT&T Teleholdings
Website	ATT.com

Whitacre Tower: AT&T's corporate headquarters in Dallas, Texas

AT&T Inc. (sometimes stylized as at&t; NYSE: T, for "telephone") is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the second^{[citation needed]} largest provider of mobile telephony and largest fixed telephony provider^[4] in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband subscription television services. As of 2010^[update], AT&T is the 7th largest company in the United States by total revenue, as well as the 4th largest non-oil company in the US (behind Walmart, General Electric, and Bank of America). It is the 3rd largest company in Texas by total revenue (behind ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips) and the largest non-oil company in Texas. It is also the largest company headquartered in Dallas.^[5] In 2011, Forbes listed AT&T as the 14th largest company in the world by market value^[6] and the 9th largest non-oil company in the world by market value.^[7] It is the 20th largest mobile telecom operator in the world with over 100.7 million mobile customers.^[8]

The company began its existence as Southwestern Bell Corporation, one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies created in 1983 as part of the break-up of the original AT&T due to the United States v. AT&T antitrust lawsuit. It changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995. In 2005, it purchased its former parent company, AT&T Corp. (originally known as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company), and took on its branding, with the merged entity naming itself AT&T Inc. and using the iconic AT&T logo and stock-trading symbol.

The current AT&T reconstitutes much of the former Bell System and includes ten of the original 22 Bell Operating Companies, along with one it partially owned (Southern New England Telephone), and the original long distance division.^[9] The company is headquartered in downtown Dallas, Texas.^[10]

History[link]

1984–2001: Southwestern Bell Corporation[link]

American Telephone and Telegraph Company officially transferred full ownership of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company to Southwestern Bell Corporation on January 1, 1984. It had three other subsidiaries: Southwestern Bell Publications, Inc., a directory publisher; Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems, Inc., in the business of mobile telephone service; and Southwestern Bell Telecommunications, Inc., focusing on marketing phone equipment to business customers. The holding companies' new president was Zane Edison Barnes.

In 1987, SBC bought Metromedia Inc.'s cellular and paging business. This in turn boosted the company to third largest cellular-communications company in the United States; behind McCaw Cellular and Pacific Telesis. In January 1990, Edward Whitacre took over as president of Southwestern Bell.^[11] The Headquarters was moved from St. Louis to San Antonio, Texas in February 1993. It acquired 2 cable companies in Maryland and Virginia from Hauser Communications for $650 million, becoming the first regional Bell telephone company to acquire a cable company outside of its service area. In 1994, they called off a $1.6 billion acquisition attempt for 40% of Cox Cable due to FCC rules on cable companies. SBC would later start selling its current cable company interests.

1995–2000: Changes in the company[link]

In 1995 Southwestern Bell Corp. became SBC Communications. They then combined Southwestern Bell Telecom division (which made telephone equipment) into the company, due to new FCC rules.

In 1996, SBC announced it would acquire Pacific Telesis Group, a Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) in California and Nevada. 1997 brought rumors of a proposed merger between AT&T Corporation (the USA's largest long distance provider) and SBC (the USA's largest local provider). The FCC disapproved of the merger, and it came to end. Later in 1997, SBC sold its last two cable companies, exiting the cable telecom field.

In January 1998, SBC announced it would take over Southern New England Telecommunications Corp. (SNET) for $4.4 billion in stock (the FCC would approve in October 1998). SBC also won a court judgment that would make it easier for RBOCs to enter the long distance phone service, but it was being challenged by AT&T and the FCC. In May 1998, Ameritech and SBC announced a $62 billion dollar merger, in which SBC would take over Ameritech. After making several organizational changes (such as the sale of Ameritech Wireless to GTE) to satisfy state and federal regulators, the two merged on October 8, 1999. The FCC later fined SBC Communications $6 million for failure to comply with agreements made in order to secure approval of the merger. SBC became the largest RBOC until the Bell Atlantic and GTE merger. 1998 revenues were $46 billion, placing SBC among the top 15 companies in the Fortune 500.^[11]

In January 1999, SBC announced it would purchase Comcast Cellular, for $1.7 billion, plus $1.3 billion of debt. During 1999 SBC continued to prepare to be allowed to provide long distance phone service. February SBC acquired up to ten percent of Williams Companies' telecommunications division for about $500 million, who was building a fiber optic network across the country and would carry SBC's future service. On November 1, 1999, SBC became a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

2000–2005: One national brand, and acquisition of AT&T Corporation[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2010)

In 2002, SBC ended marketing its operating companies under different names, and simply opted to give its companies different doing business as names based on the state (a practice already in use by Ameritech since 1993), and it gave the holding companies it had purchased d/b/a names based on their general region.

On January 31, 2005, SBC announced that it would purchase AT&T Corporation for more than US$16 billion. The announcement came almost eight years after SBC and AT&T (originally known as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company) called off their first merger talks and nearly a year after initial merger talks between AT&T Corp. and BellSouth fell apart. AT&T stockholders meeting in Denver, approved the merger on June 30, 2005. The U.S. Department of Justice cleared the merger on October 27, 2005, and the Federal Communications Commission approved it on October 31, 2005.

The merger was finalized on November 18, 2005.^[12] Upon the completion of the merger, SBC Communications adopted the AT&T branding, and changed its corporate name to AT&T Inc. to differentiate the company from the former AT&T Corporation. On December 1, 2005, the merged company's New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol was changed from "SBC" to the traditional "T" used by AT&T.

The new AT&T updated the former AT&T's graphic logo (a new "marble" designed by Interbrand took over the "Death Star"); however the existing AT&T sound trademark (voiced by Pat Fleet) continues to be used.

2006: BellSouth acquisition[link]

On Friday December 29, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the new AT&T's acquisition of a regional Bell Operating Company, BellSouth, valued at approximately $86 billion (or 1.325 shares of AT&T for each share of BellSouth at the close of trading December 29, 2006).^[13] The new combined company retained the name AT&T.^[14] The deal consolidated ownership of both Cingular Wireless and Yellowpages.com, once joint ventures between BellSouth and AT&T. All services, including wireless, became offered under the AT&T name.^[15]

2007–2008 restructuring[link]

Transition to new media[link]

The AT&T Switching Center in downtown Los Angeles.

In June 2007, AT&T's new chairman and CEO, Randall Stephenson, discussed how wireless services are the core of "The New AT&T".^[16] With declining sales of traditional home phone lines, AT&T plans to roll out various new media such as Video Share, U-verse, and to extend its reach in high speed Internet into rural areas across the country. AT&T announced on June 29, 2007, however, that it was acquiring Dobson Communications. It was then reported on October 2, 2007 that AT&T would purchase Interwise^{[clarification needed]} for $121 million, which it completed on November 2, 2007. On October 9, 2007, AT&T purchased 12 MHz of spectrum in the prime 700 MHz spectrum band from privately held Aloha Partners for nearly $2.5 billion; the deal was approved by the FCC on February 4, 2008. On December 4, 2007 AT&T announced plans to acquire Edge Wireless, a regional GSM carrier in the Pacific Northwest.^[17] The Edge Wireless acquisition was completed in April 2008.^[18]

Corporate headquarters move[link]

On June 27, 2008, AT&T announced that it would move its corporate headquarters from 175 East Houston Street in San Antonio to One AT&T Plaza in Downtown Dallas.^[10][19] The company said that it moved to gain better access to its customers and operations throughout the world, and to the key technology partners, suppliers, innovation and human resources needed as it continues to grow, domestically and internationally^[20]

AT&T Inc. previously relocated its corporate headquarters to San Antonio from St. Louis in 1992, when it was then named Southwestern Bell Corporation. The company's Telecom Operations group, which serves residential and regional business customers in 22 U.S. states, remains in San Antonio.^{[citation needed]}

Atlanta continues to be the headquarters for AT&T Mobility, with significant offices in Redmond, Washington, the former home of AT&T Wireless. Bedminster, New Jersey is the headquarters for the company's Global Business Services group and AT&T Labs. St. Louis continues as home to the company's Directory operations, AT&T Advertising Solutions.^[21]

Job cuts[link]

On December 4, 2008, AT&T announced they would be cutting 12,000 jobs due to "economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure".^[22]

Post-consolidation wireless acquisitions[link]

Cellular One acquisition[link]

On June 29, 2007 AT&T announced that they had reached an agreement to purchase Dobson Cellular, which provided services in the US under the name Cellular One in primarily rural areas. The closing price was $2.8B USD, or $13 per share. AT&T also agreed to assume the outstanding debt of $2.3B USD. The sale completed on November 15, 2007, with market transition beginning December 9, 2007.^[23]

Centennial acquisition[link]

On November 11, 2008, AT&T announced a $944 million buyout of Centennial Communications Corp. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, the approval of Centennial’s stockholders and other customary closing conditions. Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, Centennial’s largest stockholder, has agreed to vote in support of this transaction. In an attempt to quell regulators, on May 9, 2009 AT&T entered an agreement with Verizon Wireless to sell off certain existing Centennial service areas in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi for $240 million pending the successful merger of AT&T and Centennial.^[24]

Wayport acquisition[link]

On December 12, 2008, AT&T acquired Wayport, Inc., a major provider of Internet hotspots in the United States. With the acquisition, AT&T's public Wi-Fi deployment climbed to 20,000 hotspots in the United States, the most of any U.S. provider.^[25]

Qualcomm spectrum[link]

On December 20, 2011, AT&T and Qualcomm announced that AT&T would buy $1.93 billion worth of spectrum from Qualcomm. Formerly used for FLO TV, this spectrum will be used to expand AT&T's 4G wireless services. AT&T already had spectrum for the purpose close to what it is buying.^[26]

Attempted acquisition of T-Mobile USA[link]

On March 20, 2011, AT&T announced its intention to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion from Deutsche Telekom. The deal would have seen the addition of 33.7 million subscribers, making AT&T the largest mobile phone company in the United States.^[27][28] AT&T would have had a 43% market share of mobile phones in the U.S. making AT&T significantly larger than any of its competitors. Regulators questioned the effects such a deal would have had on both competitors and consumers.^[27] AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson however stated that the merger would increase network quality and would lead to large savings for the company. AT&T stated it may have had to sell some assets to gain approval from regulators, but claimed to have done their "homework" on regulations.^[29]

Reaction to the announced merger generated both support as well as opposition among various groups and communities.

The merger gained support from a wide number of civil rights, environmental, and business organizations. These include the NAACP, League of United Latin American Citizens, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and the Sierra Club.^[30] Labor organizations such as the AFL-CIO, Teamsters, and the Communications Workers of America also voiced support for the merger. These organizations pointed to AT&T's commitment to labor, social, and environmental standards. Many of these organizations also cited how the merger is likely to accelerate 4G wireless deployment, thus helping underserved communities such as rural areas and disadvantaged urban communities.^[30] According to the NAACP, the merger would have "advance[d] increased access to affordable and sustainable wireless broadband services and in turn stimulate job creation and civic engagement throughout our country."^[30]

By August 2, 2011, the governors of 26 states had written letters supporting the merger.^[31] On July 27 the attorneys general of Utah, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming sent a joint letter of support to the FCC.^[31] By August 2011 state regulatory agencies in Arizona and Louisiana approved the acquisition.

A diverse group of industry and public-interest organizations opposed AT&T's merger with T-Mobile. Consumer groups including Public Knowledge, Consumers Union, Free Press and the Media Access Project publicly opposed the AT&T merger. These groups attempted to persuade a majority of the Federal Communications Commission and members of Congress. These organizations feared that the merger will raise prices and stifle innovation by consolidating so much of the wireless industry in one company. Free Press and Public Knowledge started letter-writing campaigns against the deal.^[32]

Internet companies were generally skeptical of the merger because it leaves them with fewer counter-parties to negotiate with for getting their content and applications to customers. The AT&T merger might leave them dependent on just two, AT&T and Verizon. The Computer & Communication Industry Association (CCIA), which counts Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and eBay among its members, opposed the merger. "A deal like this, if not blocked on antitrust grounds, is of deep concern to all the innovative businesses that build everything from apps to handsets. It would be hypocritical for our nation to talk about unleashing innovation on one hand and then stand by as threats to innovation like this are proposed," said Ed Black, head of CCIA.^[32]

On April 21, 2011, AT&T defended its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA before a U.S. Senate committee, saying the combined company would deliver high-speed wireless services to 97 percent of Americans and provide consumer benefits such as fewer dropped calls.^[33]

As part of the original negotiations, if AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile USA were to be rejected by federal regulators, AT&T would need to pay $6 billion, including $3 billion in cash, to T-Mobile USA's parent company Deutsche Telekom.^[34]

On August 31, 2011, the Department of Justice officially filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to block the acquisition.^[35][36]

On November 30, 2011, the FCC allowed AT&T to withdraw their merger, saving both carriers from divulging documentation about internal operations. The FCC cited job loss and higher consumer prices as reasons to deny the merger.^[37]

On December 19, 2011, AT&T announced that it would permanently end its merger bid after a "thorough review of its options". As per the original acquisition agreement, T-Mobile will receive $3 billion in cash as well as access to $1 billion worth of AT&T-held wireless spectrum.^[38]

Political contributions and lobbying[link]

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, AT&T is the second largest donor to United States political campaigns,^[39] and the top American corporate donor,^[40] having contributed more than US$47.7 million since 1990, 56% and 44% of which went to Republican and Democratic recipients, respectively.^[41] Also, during the period of 1998 to 2010, the company expended US$130 million on lobbying in the United States.^[40] A key political issue for AT&T has been the question of which businesses win the right to profit by providing broadband internet access in the United States.^[42]

In 2005, AT&T was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.^[43][44][45]

American Legislative Exchange Council[link]

Bill Leahy, representing AT&T, sits on the Private Enterprise Board of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).^[46]

Bell Operating Companies[link]

AT&T payphone signage.

Of the twenty-three Bell Operating Companies which AT&T Corp. owned prior to the 1984 agreement to divest, eleven (BellSouth Telecommunications combines two former BOCs) have become a part of the new AT&T Inc. with the completion of their acquisition of BellSouth Corporation on December 29, 2006:^[47]

• BellSouth Telecommunications (formerly known as Southern Bell; includes former South Central Bell)
• Illinois Bell
• Indiana Bell
• Michigan Bell
• Nevada Bell (formerly known as Bell Telephone Company of Nevada)
• Ohio Bell
• Pacific Bell (formerly Pacific Telephone & Telegraph)
• Southwestern Bell
• Wisconsin Bell (formerly Wisconsin Telephone)
• Southern New England Telephone – Now wholly owned; the original AT&T held 16.8% interest prior to 1984.

Former operating companies[link]

The following companies have gone to defunct status under SBC/AT&T ownership:

• Southwestern Bell Texas – a separate operating company created by SBC, absorbed operations of original SWBT on December 30, 2001 and became Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.; eventually merged into SWBT Inc. in 2007 which became the current Southwestern Bell
• Woodbury Telephone – merged into Southern New England Telephone on June 1, 2007.

Corporate structure[link]

AT&T office in San Antonio, Texas with new logo and orange highlight from the former Cingular

AT&T Inc. has retained the holding companies it has acquired over the years resulting in the following corporate structure:

• AT&T Inc., publicly traded holding company
  • Southwestern Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Arkansas, AT&T Kansas, AT&T Missouri, AT&T Oklahoma, AT&T Southwest, AT&T Texas
  • AT&T Teleholdings, Inc. d/b/a AT&T East, AT&T Midwest, AT&T West; formerly Ameritech, acquired in 1999; absorbed Pacific Telesis and SNET Corp. under AT&T ownership
    • Illinois Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Illinois
    • Indiana Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Indiana
    • Michigan Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Michigan
    • The Ohio Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Ohio
    • Pacific Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T California
      • Nevada Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Nevada
    • The Southern New England Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T Connecticut (includes former Woodbury Telephone)
    • Wisconsin Bell, Inc. d/b/a AT&T Wisconsin
  • AT&T Corp., acquired 2005
    • AT&T Alascom
  • BellSouth Corporation d/b/a AT&T South, acquired 2006
    • BellSouth Telecommunications, LLC d/b/a AT&T Alabama, AT&T Florida, AT&T Georgia, AT&T Louisiana, AT&T Kentucky, AT&T Mississippi, AT&T North Carolina, AT&T South Carolina, AT&T Southeast, AT&T Tennessee
  • AT&T Mobility

Corporate governance[link]

Stephenson at the 2008 World Economic Forum

AT&T's current board of directors:^[48]

• Randall L. Stephenson – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
• James A. Henderson
• Gilbert F. Amelio
• Reuben V. Anderson
• James H. Blanchard
• Jaime Chico Pardo
• James P. Kelly
• Jon C. Madonna
• Lynn M. Martin
• John B. McCoy
• Joyce M. Roché
• Matthew K. Rose
• Laura D'Andrea Tyson

Criticism and controversies[link]

Wireless service[link]

AT&T has received criticisms for its wireless services. In December 2010, Consumer Reports named AT&T as the worst wireless provider in the country.^[49] In 2011, AT&T has been rated the worst wireless provider for the second year in a row.^[50]

In addition, AT&T was sued and lost in a minor lawsuit over its data throttling policies for customers with unlimited data plans. On 27 February 2012, the judge in Simi Valley awarded the iPhone user $850. AT&T had abandoned the decision to appeal.^[51][52]

Censorship[link]

In August 2009, the band Pearl Jam performed in Chicago at Lollapalooza which was being web-broadcast by AT&T. The band, while playing the song "Daughter", started playing a version of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" but with altered lyrics critical of president George Bush. These lyrics included "George Bush, leave this world alone!" and, "George Bush, find yourself another home!". Listeners to AT&T's web broadcast heard only the first line because the rest was censored,^[53] although AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said that the silencing was "a mistake."^[54]

In September 2007, AT&T changed^[55] their legal policy to state that "AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice for conduct that AT&T believes"..."(c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries."^[56] By October 10, 2007 AT&T had altered the terms and conditions for its Internet service to explicitly support freedom of expression by its subscribers, after an outcry claiming the company had given itself the right to censor its subscribers' transmissions.^[57]

Section 5.1 of AT&T's new terms of service now reads "AT&T respects freedom of expression and believes it is a foundation of our free society to express differing points of view. AT&T will not terminate, disconnect or suspend service because of the views you or we express on public policy matters, political issues or political campaigns."^{[58][dubious – discuss]}

On July 26, 2009, AT&T customers were unable to access certain sections of the image board 4chan, specifically /b/ (the "random" board) and /r9k/ (the "ROBOT 9000" board, a spin-off of the random board).^[59] However, by the morning of Monday, July 27, the block had been lifted and access to the affected boards was restored. AT&T's official reason for the block was that a distributed denial of service attack had originated from the img.4chan.org server, and access was blocked to stop the attack.^[60] Major news outlets have reported that the issue may be related to DDoSing of 4chan, and that the suspicions of 4chan users fell on AnonTalk.com (later AnonTalk.se) at that time for doing this.^[61]

Privacy controversy[link]

File:SER klein exhibits.djvu

In 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation lodged a class action lawsuit, Hepting v. AT&T, which alleged that AT&T had allowed agents of the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor phone and Internet communications of AT&T customers without warrants. If true, this would violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. AT&T has yet to confirm or deny that monitoring by the NSA is occurring. In April 2006, a retired former AT&T technician, Mark Klein, lodged an affidavit supporting this allegation.^[63][64] The Department of Justice has stated they will intervene in this lawsuit by means of State Secrets Privilege.^[65] In July 2006, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California – in which the suit was filed – rejected a federal government motion to dismiss the case. The motion to dismiss, which invoked the State Secrets Privilege, had argued that any court review of the alleged partnership between the federal government and AT&T would harm national security. The case was immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit. It was dismissed on June 3, 2009, citing retroactive legislation in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. ^[66] In May 2006, USA Today reported that all international and domestic calling records had been handed over to the National Security Agency by AT&T, Verizon, SBC, and BellSouth for the purpose of creating a massive calling database.^[67] The portions of the new AT&T that had been part of SBC Communications before November 18, 2005 were not mentioned.

On June 21, 2006, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that AT&T had rewritten rules on their privacy policy. The policy, which took effect June 23, 2006, says that "AT&T – not customers – owns customers' confidential info and can use it 'to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.' "^[68]

On August 22, 2007, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell confirmed that AT&T was one of the telecommunications companies that assisted with the government's warrantless wire-tapping program on calls between foreign and domestic sources.^[69]

On November 8, 2007, Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, told Keith Olbermann of MSNBC that all Internet traffic passing over AT&T lines was copied into a locked room at the company's San Francisco office – to which only employees with National Security Agency clearance had access.^[70]

AT&T keeps for five to seven years a record of who text messages whom and the date and time, but not the content of the messages.^[71]

Intellectual property filtering[link]

In January 2008, the company reported plans to begin filtering all Internet traffic which passes through its network for intellectual property violations.^[72] Commentators in the media have speculated that if this plan is implemented, it would lead to a mass exodus of subscribers leaving AT&T,^[73] although this is misleading as Internet traffic may go through the company's network anyway.^[72] Internet freedom proponents used these developments as justification for government-mandated network neutrality.

Discrimination against local Public-access television channels[link]

AT&T is accused by community media groups of discriminating against local Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels:, by "imposing unfair restrictions that will severely restrict the audience".^[74]

According to Barbara Popovic, Executive Director of the Chicago public-access service CAN-TV, the new AT&T U-verse system forces all Public-access television into a special menu system, denying normal functionality such as channel numbers, access to the standard program guide, and DVR recording.^[74] The Ratepayer Advocates division of the California Public Utilities Commission reported: "Instead of putting the stations on individual channels, AT&T has bundled community stations into a generic channel that can only be navigated through a complex and lengthy process."^[74]

Sue Buske (president of telecommunications consulting firm the Buske Group and a former head of the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers/Alliance for Community Media) argue that this is "an overall attack [...] on public access across the [United States], the place in the dial around cities and communities where people can make their own media in their own communities".^[74]

Information security[link]

In June 2010, a hacker group known as Goatse Security discovered a vulnerability within the AT&T that could allow anyone to uncover email addresses belonging to customers of AT&T 3G service for the Apple iPad.^[75] These email addresses could be accessed without a protective password.^[76] Using a script, Goatse Security collected thousands of email addresses from AT&T.^[75] Goatse Security informed AT&T about the security flaw through a third party.^[77] Goatse Security then disclosed around 114,000 of these emails to Gawker Media, which published an article about the security flaw and disclosure in Valleywag.^[75][77] Praetorian Security Group criticized the web application that Goatse Security exploited as "poorly designed".^[75]

Accusations of enabling fraud[link]

In March 2012, the United States federal government announced a lawsuit against AT&T. The specific accusations state that AT&T "violated the False Claims Act by facilitating and seeking federal payment for IP Relay calls by international callers who were ineligible for the service and sought to use it for fraudulent purposes. The complaint alleges that, out of fears that fraudulent call volume would drop after the registration deadline, AT&T knowingly adopted a non-compliant registration system that did not verify whether the user was located within the United States. The complaint further contends that AT&T continued to employ this system even with the knowledge that it facilitated use of IP Relay by fraudulent foreign callers, which accounted for up to 95 percent of AT&T's call volume. The government's complaint alleges that AT&T improperly billed the TRS Fund for reimbursement of these calls and received millions of dollars in federal payments as a result."^[78]

Naming rights and sponsorships[link]

Buildings[link]

AT&T Midtown Center in Atlanta, Georgia

• AT&T 220 Building – building in Indianapolis, Indiana
• AT&T Building – building in Detroit, Michigan
• AT&T Building – building in Indianapolis, Indiana
• AT&T Building – building in Kingman, Arizona
• AT&T Building – (aka "The Batman Building") in Nashville, Tennessee
• AT&T Building – building in Omaha, Nebraska
• AT&T Building Addition – building in Detroit, Michigan
• AT&T Center – building in Los Angeles
• AT&T Center – building in St. Louis, Missouri
• AT&T City Center – building in Birmingham, Alabama
• AT&T Corporate Center – building in Chicago, Illinois
• AT&T Huron Road Building – building in Cleveland, Ohio
• AT&T Lenox Park Campus – AT&T Mobility Headquarters in DeKalb County just outside Atlanta, Georgia
• AT&T Midtown Center – building in Atlanta, Georgia
• AT&T Switching Center – building in Los Angeles
• AT&T Switching Center – building in Oakland, California
• AT&T Switching Center – building in San Francisco
• AT&T Building – building in San Diego
• Whitacre Tower (One AT&T Plaza) – Corporate Headquarters, Dallas, Texas
• Sony Tower, (formerly the AT&T Building)
• AT&T Tower – building in Jacksonville, FL

Venues[link]

AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas

• AT&T Center – San Antonio, Texas (formerly SBC Center)
• AT&T Field – Chattanooga, Tennessee (formerly BellSouth Park)
• AT&T Park – San Francisco (formerly Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park)
• AT&T Plaza – Chicago, Illinois (public space that hosts the Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park)
• AT&T Plaza – Dallas, Texas (plaza in front of the American Airlines Center at Victory Park)
• AT&T Performing Arts Center – Dallas, Texas
• Jones AT&T Stadium – Lubbock, Texas (formerly Clifford B. and Audrey Jones Stadium, Jones SBC Stadium)
• TPC San Antonio – San Antonio, Texas (AT&T Oaks Course & AT&T Canyons Course)

Sponsorships[link]

• AT&T Champions Classic – Valencia, California
• AT&T Classic – Atlanta, Georgia (formerly BellSouth Classic)
• AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic (formerly Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic, Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl Classic, SBC Cotton Bowl Classic) – played in Arlington, Texas, at Cowboys Stadium.
• AT&T National – Washington, D.C.
• AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
• AT&T Red River Rivalry – Dallas, Texas (formerly Red River Shootout, SBC Red River Rivalry)
• Major League Soccer and the United States Soccer Federation, including the U.S. men's and U.S. women's national teams and the Major League Soccer All-Star Game from 2009
• United States Olympic team^[79]
• National Collegiate Athletic Association (Corporate Champion)^[80]

Miscellaneous[link]

• AT&T (SEPTA station) – Public Transportation Station in Philadelphia, PA

Global presence[link]

AT&T offers services in many locations throughout the Asia Pacific; its regional headquarters is located in Hong Kong.^[81]

Enterprise SIP Trunking Services[link]

In 2008, Toshiba announced SIP interoperability with the AT&T IP Flexible Reach service, and this partnership would improve Toshiba's IP-PBX offerings.^[82] In 2010, AT&T combined its virtual private network (VPN) service with its IP Flexible Reach.^[83]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: AT&T

	Dallas-Fort Worth portal
	Texas portal
	Companies portal

• AT&T Internet Services
• AT&T Corporation
• AT&T Mobility
• att.net
• Bell System
• Bell System Divestiture
• Communications Assistance For Law Enforcement Act
• Hepting v. AT&T
• Lists of public utilities
• Modification of Final Judgment
• NSA warrantless surveillance
• PRX (telephony)
• Regional Bell Operating Company
• Toktumi
• Tying of the iPhone to AT&T

References[link]