AT&T Plans Push in Wireless, Ads

AT&T PLANS PUSH IN WIRELESS, ADS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Amol Sharma amol.sharma@wsj.com and Almar Latour ]
AT&T which became the world's largest telecom company by closing the $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth, will aggressively push new wireless services to corporate customers and consumers, and make advertising a key revenue stream, according to Chairman and Chief Executive Edward E. Whitacre Jr. With full control of cellphone operator Cingular Wireless, formerly a joint-venture with BellSouth, the San Antonio-based phone company will begin selling AT&T-branded wireless services to its large pool of corporate phone and Internet customers, allowing it to offer discounts for bundles that were impossible when Cingular was a separate entity. AT&T also will begin selling advertising on cellphones, television and its Internet-access service this year, allowing advertisers to reach consumers across multiple platforms with a single operator. Advertisers will be able to buy spots for TV and broadband beginning early this year, with wireless ads following suit later this year. The advertising business could generate several billion dollars in revenue per year in the next five years, the company says. AT&T is embarking on its wireless push after a year in which its shares rose 46% as investors applauded two years of deal making, including the acquisitions of BellSouth, AT&T Wireless and the former AT&T Corp. Analysts expect industry consolidation to continue, particularly among smaller regional wireless carriers. AT&T now has 58.7 million wireless customers, 67.5 million local-phone customers as well as corporate accounts with all of the Fortune 1000 companies. In addition to wireless and advertising, its other key growth engines in coming years will be its nascent Internet-based television service as well as overseas operations, particular among corporate customers.
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