SBC Communications completed its historic acquisition of AT&T, making it the largest telecommunications company in the United States and one of the largest in the world. The new AT&T vowed to lead to lead the industry “in one of the most significant shifts in communications technology since the invention of the telephone more than 120 years earlier — the deployment of integrated services based on Internet Protocol, giving customers access to virtually any services, anytime, anywhere.”
“”The combination of SBC and AT&T companies gives us the local, global, and wireless network resources and the expertise to set the standard for delivering meaningful innovations and making the promise of integrated communications and entertainment a reality for consumers and businesses,” said Edward E. Whitacre Jr., chairman and CEO of AT&T.
Fact |
| Network and Customers |
| Largest U.S. provider of DSL with 6.5 million lines |
| Largest local service operator with 50.2 million access lines (SBC-only access lines) |
| No. 1 provider of data services to the Fortune 1000. |
| IP backbone is currently carrying 4.6 petabytes (4.9 billion megabytes) of traffic on an average business day |
| The new AT&T global backbone includes 1,500 managed MPLS nodes in 80 countries and 75,000 MPLS customer ports |
| Currently operating 28 data centers |
| The combined network has 410,000 fiber route miles |
| Wi-Fi currently offered at more than 18,000 hot spots in the United States and the world |
| Owns 60% of Cingular Wireless, which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless services provider with over 52 million wireless customers.. Services will be offered under the AT&T brand. |
| The new AT&T is preparing to launch cost-competitive, communications service bundles to residential customers in the coming weeks. |
| Project Lightspeed will deploy nearly 40,000 miles of fiber, initially reaching18 million homes and delivering 20 – 25 Mbps of bandwidth. Project Lightspeed will deliver numerous IP-based services, including IPTV |
| Financial |
| Stockholders of the former AT&T received 0.77942 shares of SBC common stock for each common share of AT&T. |
| A new ticker symbol will be announced on November 21 |
| The combined company has 197,100 employees (SBC: 157,600; AT&T: 39,500 — as of 9/30/05) |
| The combined 2004 revenues of the company were $71.2 billion (SBC $40.7 billion, AT&T $30.5 billion)
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| The combined company controls more than 6,000 patents |
| A new logo will also be unveiled this week |
| The new brand will be heavily promoted with the largest multimedia advertising and marketing campaign in either company’s history, as well as through other promotional initiatives |
“We are ready to meet the needs of a new generation of customers in a new era of communications and entertainment,” said Whitacre.
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