AT& T Changes Course on Auction
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In an unexpected policy reversal, AT&amp;T said yesterday that it supports a proposal to require some cellular airwaves to be available to all wireless devices.
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A federal airwaves auction starting today is expected to bring consumers improved wireless broadband services and will likely provide the last opportunity to create a nationwide challenger to the big cellphone companies.
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An announcement that AT&amp;T would drop its prices for its VoIP CallVantage Service, its popular residential broadband phone service, from $34.
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The drastic moves were prompted by AT&T's plan to retreat from the consumer telephone business following a lost court battle.
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As AT&T prepares billions in write-offs, speculation of a potential takeover heats up.
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AT&amp;T Corp. (TN: Quote, Profile, Research) will cut another 7,400 jobs and reduce the value of its assets by $11.4 billion, spurred by its retreat from traditional consumer
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Change is coming for AT&T Wireless's 21.7 million customers -- although they wouldn't know it from watching the company's commercials or shopping in its stores. The cell phone provider is expected to complete its $41 billion merger with Cingular Wireless within weeks.  -The Washington Post
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Cellphone customers should soon encounter fewer dead spots in their coverage areas and more easily use next-generation phones that play television-quality video and perform other high-tech tricks, thanks to a Federal Communications Commission spectrum auction that concluded yesterday.
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AT&amp;T hasn&#39;t decided whether it will bid for the highly desirable 700MHz band because it doesn&#39;t know if it can build a profitable business, given the open-access rules set for the wireless spectrum by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in July.Calling the rules &quot;interesting,&quot; AT&amp;T&#39;s CEO Randall Stephenson said the company is hard at work crunching numbers and analyzing business scenarios, but hasn&#39;t reached a conclusion yet.&quot;Is there a business model there? I&#39;m not sure if there is or not,&quot; he said Friday at the&#160;Web 2.0 Summit, where he answered questions from conference chair John Battelle and from audience members.The FCC conditions, which include&#160;open-access rules on a third of the spectrum, have been a major source of controversy.The winner of 22MHz of spectrum must allow any wireless devices to connect to the network, permitting wireless telephone customers to use handset devices from other carriers. The winning bidder also can&#39;t block or slow down wireless and Web content from competitors.Some telecom carriers wanted no conditions, while some consumer advocacy groups and Google wanted the FCC to require that winning bidders also resell the spectrum at wholesale rates to competitors, something the FCC didn&#39;t adopt.The FCC is scheduled to auction 62MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band beginning in January. The spectrum is ideal for long-range wireless telephone and broadband services, with signals that travel up to four times farther than in higher spectrum bands.&quot;It&#39;s a huge opportunity. It&#39;s beachfront property. When it comes to buying spectrum, it&#39;s the best you&#39;re going to find for a long time,&quot; Stephenson said.Data consumption on wireless networks is growing fourfold year over year, so a company&#160;such as&#160;AT&amp;T needs to bulk up on spectrum to keep up with the demand, he said.&quot;It&#39;s very obvious we&#39;re going to have to add to our spectrum holdings,&quot; he said.That&#39;s why AT&amp;T earlier this month reached an agreement to&#160;buy 12MHz of high-speed wireless spectrum&#160;in the 700MHz band from Aloha Partners for $2.5 billion.&quot;It&#39;s the first time, I think, that we&#39;ve ever paid $2.5 billion for a company that had no revenue,&quot; Stephenson said.The Aloha spectrum covers 196 million U.S. residents, including 72 of the 100 largest markets in the United States.In other matters, Stephenson said he was very satisfied with the&#160;iPhone deal between his company and Apple.&quot;I&#39;m not sure I could have asked for much more out of it than what we got,&quot; he said.Asked to comment on the decision to use the slower EDGE network for the iPhone, Stephenson said it was a request from Apple CEO Steve Jobs.&quot;He wanted a broad ubiquitous data network. The EDGE network is the only data network that covers the entire United States,&quot; he said. The situation will improve as AT&amp;T upgrades markets to 3G, he said.Stephenson acknowledged that AT&amp;T&#39;s directory assistance business is being challenged by ad-supported options from Internet companies&#160;such as&#160;Google.&quot;We better get our advertising-supported [directory assistance] model up fast,&quot; he said, adding that AT&amp;T is building such a service internally.On a lighter note, he said he&#39;s &quot;envious&quot; of Google and the success it has had with its business model. &quot;It&#39;s a great gig if you can get it,&quot; he said.(Grant Gross in Washington, D.C. contributed with this story.)
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The &#36;41 billion merger between Cingular Wireless LLC and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. won approval from the Federal Communications Commission yesterday, according to federal sources close to the agency, paving the way for major changes in the lucrative wireless-phone market.
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The Federal Communications Commission said that, starting Wednesday, new rules will apply that will encourage more bidding and hasten the auctionâs end.
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AT&amp;T Corp. announced Thursday that it is cutting at least 7,500 more jobs and slashing the value of its assets by $11.4 billion, drastic moves prompted by the company&#39;s plan to retreat from the traditional consumer telephone business.
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On Thursday, the government begins auctioning airwave space cleared by the impending transition from analog to digital broadcasting.
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Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile are expected to be the most aggressive bidders for U.S. wireless airwaves in a January auction that analysts say could give them added resources to expand and improve service.
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Starting tomorrow, AT&amp;T Corp. will sell its residential VoIP service for $5 less than an earlier promotional offer as it prepares for the holiday sales season.
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AT&amp;T Wireless and AT&amp;T Corp. have resolved a dispute over branding and reached a new agreement ahead of Cingular Wireless&#39; planned purchase of AT&amp;T Wireless, the three companies said Monday.
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AT&T will participate in the FCC's wireless auction, but hasn't decided whether to bid for the open-access 700 MHz band.