AT&T Concessions Seen to Lead to Merger

Actually CEO Whitacre said that it's just going to be AT&T , no wireless or mobile added. [Source: San Antonio Express-News Jan 3rd Page 1 Busn. Section] Or so says the local paper.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/MYSA010307.01E.AT&TWireless.9c9a6a.html

 

That's suprising, yet can make sense on how they want to sell & market it, if they are going to try & bundle service's it can prevent confusion, but some people may like hearing/knowing the wireless end.
I bet some corp. stores will get people coming in thinking it's more then just a wireless store, unless that is what they plan on doing, selling other services in the stores then just wireless.

Plus it could help keep people that still think of AT&T Wireless as being the old company with their bad experiences to know it's not the same company.

 

they are moving this along very quickly......i like that in a company........they get things done quickly.....its good to show the consumers that they mean business and then those people who had AT&T will realize that this AT&T is different and brand new

 

IU heard something today and that Seigman is also out and has been replaced. If this is true then the 2 top Cingular guys are out of Cingular.

 

this means that Cingular is gonna have some pretty big changes over the next year......i hope anyway.... :biggrin:

 

They told me the name but I was in a hurry and I can say that forgot it.

 

Stan is not going anywhere. He's been named the President of the Wireless division of AT&T.

 

Well that could be good or bad, he has done a lot for Cingular bringing it up, but seems pretty tough on making changes that the customers want.

I did read that he is going to retire this year in the OP's article, and Ralph was expected to take over, but now they don't know who is going to when Stan leaves.
Maybe AT&T gave him a reason to stay longer like more $$$$$$

 

I was told that thre was an internal email about him being replaced. I will check again into the new name tomorrow. They did not say that he will remain under another position.

 

i dotn care who it is cuz if it werent for their text messaging and data packages and their off-network roaming policy.......i would be with them in a flash.....just put someone in there that will make some good changes.....maybe even make a CERO (Cingular Employee Referral Offer).....haha.......i would even pay a termination fee on my current plan with Sprint to see that happen.......... :lmao:

 

From what i have heard from a spokesperson for AT&T, they said that the name will most likely be AT&T. No wireless or mobile at the end. The reason this is, is because cingular bought out AT&T wireless, so changing the name to that might confuse people of the old company. AT&T mobile is to close to sounding like T-mobile and they dont want anything that will cause confusion among customers. So from what i have heard, the ceullar divison of AT&T will be called AT&T.

 

That makes sense, and this way everything will be known as AT&T, and may cause less or may cause more confusion when calling in for assistance & not knowing which # to call. Maybe they have a plan for that too?

 

like i said earlier...........it make the whole company look completely seemless where there isnt a separation of names........makes it look like one perfect company

 

And we shall soon see VZW become Verizon.

 

is that one in the works or do you think that Verizon is gonna follow suit

 

Verizon has been trying to get the Voda part but Voda is asking for around $50 BN. With AT&T now, I see Verizon being less finiky as to the asking price and might offer close to what Voda wants. They can't let AT&T get way far ahead or it will end up hurting them.

 

OK, I just saw the commercial for the first time and it said "Cingular is now the New AT&T". So the campaign started.

 

I tried to catch it last night and missed it, I watched all of CSI Miami since I heard it was on CBS and they didn't show it, or while watching the News. Well I am sure I will catch it soon.

Did they change Jacks head to a Globe? :lmao:

 

Oh yes, it was a fip of the page thing from the Jack to the Globe. Just like starting a new story. LOL.

 

What channel did you see it on, I want to see it. I've been looking for it online and nothing.

 

It was on CBS last night. They had at on at the end of the shows beefore the credits but it seems that they did it only till 10 PM and they did not after. I would say it could be on tonight durring the peak hour shows 8 to 10 time slots.

 

Well being NCIS is on tonight around that time & I like to watch that, maybe I will catch it. Unless to have a commercial during CSI or other top rated shows is costing them too much vs other shows?

 

lets hope they do it then too. it sure sounded that Cingular is the whole AT&T organization in that commercial and that all will revolve around it.

 

I think that's their plan, in yesterday's paper by me the full page ad was talking about how "Wireless" was the main part of their company, and how Wireless to wireline is going to be the next important step for them.(or something close to this).

 

The one thing I see from their ad (and some one who see the AT&T ones needs to confirm this as those are not Aired in NY) the begining seems to be an AT&T original and the rest when it goes to Cingular is an add on to replace what was there before.

 

Cingular’s future tied to one parent

WIRELESS IS EXPECTED to be the heart of the newly merged AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp., bundling multiple services with cellular and allowing advertisers to reach multiple media platforms through one company. And that wireless heart will be the nation’s largest carrier, Cingular Wireless L.L.C., under the AT&T brand.

The change effectively makes the U.S. telecom industry a duopoly, noted Mercator Capital in a research note.

The new AT&T will be in a unique position to provide quadruple play services of voice, video, Internet access and wireless, said Michael Myshrall, managing director of Mercator’s communications technology practice. But when the new company talks about wireless, he said, “I don’t think it means wireless so much as it means mobility. It’s all about having access to the content and applications that you

can have at home, when you’re away from home.”

With the potential to give customers bundled packages and services such as remote digital video recording capabilities, and a unified communications interface for multiple devices, Myshrall said, “wireless is just the delivery mechanism that they’re going to use” for advanced services.

The change is also supposed to help cellular giant Cingular become more nimble, with a single parent company instead of two. According to AT&T spokesman Brad Mays, the merger will “allow for easier and faster integration of wireless and wireline networks and services, with both Cingular’s wireless and AT&T’s wireline networks moving to IP-based technologies.”

“We think that the simplicity and efficiency of a single ownership, as opposed to a joint venture, is going to make decision-making faster and make it even easier to get the innovations into the marketplace and into the hands of consumers,” said Cingular spokesman Mark Siegel.

End to Jack

The new AT&T eventually will mean the demise of the successful Cingular brand. The re-branding of Cingular will begin shortly, according to AT&T, and will take place over a period of months. AT&T offered few details about the transition, but indicated that it will do a co-branded campaign that is scheduled to start early this year and use the phrase “Cingular is now AT&T.” The company noted that it has already begun extensive new advertising that will transition the BellSouth brand name to AT&T.

Siegel said that the re-branding would begin shortly and that the “gradual transition” would take place in phases.

“We’re going to make sure that all of that is clear and understandable to customers,” Siegel said.

The change is likely to have a substantial impact on media spending, since four of the top five big-spending brands in 2006 were telecom companies, according to RCR Wireless News’ sister publication Advertising Age—and two of those companies are now going to be under the same brand. Verizon held the top spot as the loftiest spender in a year when telecom advertising spend was up 9 percent, pushed by a jump of almost 30 percent in the first half of 2006. Cingular was the runner-up at $628.6 million; the then-new AT&T, which launched a reintroduction campaign early last year following SBC Communic-ations Inc.’s acquisition of AT&T Corp., was the fourth biggest spender at $511.5 million, and Sprint Nextel Corp. came in at No. 5 with $496 million.

At the same time, AT&T has said that making multiple media platforms available to advertisers will be a key component of the new strategy. Myshrall said that that aspect of the newly merged company wasn’t anticipated, but that the company may also explore physical assets such as towers and vehicles for ad space, as well as various Internet and media placement.

Despite all the changes ahead, Cingular steadfastly insists that it is continuing with its everyday operations.

“It really is business as usual,” said Siegel. “That’s not to say there won’t be some changes, but we still have to deliver on the commitments we’ve made for 2007 and beyond, and that’s not changed.”

Wireless to drive growth

AT&T expects that wireless will be the combined company’s biggest growth driver over the next three to five years, and contribute to one-third of AT&T’s revenues. The merger is supposed to strengthen AT&T’s position in providing converged services for businesses, and the company said that it expects more than 72 percent of its revenues to come from “a combination of wireless and sales of network services to business customers.”

That might be making competitors at Sprint Nextel Corp.—itself still struggling with the aftershocks of a major merger—and Verizon Communications Inc. nervous.

Myshrall said that although it might seem that AT&T and Verizon have the same technical capabilities (wireless subsidiaries, fiber-to-the-home initiatives and traditional wireline services), the new AT&T “may be in a better position to execute than Verizon.” He cited several reasons: the AT&T brand name and associated loyalty, and the IPTV technology that AT&T chose for its fiber deployment. Also, Verizon and Verizon Wireless are “still perceived, externally and internally, as two separate companies. … They need to do a better job of merging those together.”

Myshrall said that Sprint Nextel might find success in returning to Nextel Communications Inc.’s roots and focusing its energy on the business customer.

 

hmmm I wonder since at&t just did all that, and is now a telecommunications giant, if they will gobble up all the little GSM rural providers like Dobson, Suncom......etc...?

 

Someone is yanking your chain, their is no internal e-mail about Stan going anywhere. IT IS NOT TRUE!:loony:

 

I do remember in one of the news releases that investors were shocked because Ralph is being moved to the BellSouth section & he was expected to take over for Stan, since Stan was going to retire in a year or 2.

I can't say about the email, but do remember this in the article.