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EspañolAT&T
(Redirected from SBC Communications)
'AT&T Inc.' () is the largest provider of both local and long distance telephone services, wireless service, and DSL Internet access in the United States. AT&T is based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Formerly SBC Communications, Inc., the company shed its name and took on the iconic AT&T moniker and the 'T' stock-trading symbol (for "telephone") after its acquisition of AT&T Corporation.
Since the break-up of American Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1984, most of the companies spun off from it (the "Baby Bells") have merged into three major US telecommunications groups: Verizon, Qwest, and AT&T Inc. Most of these companies are made up primarily of former components of American Telephone and Telegraph Company. For the new AT&T, these include many Bell Operating Companies and the long distance division. [2]
AT&T Inc. was founded in 1983 as 'Southwestern Bell Corporation', headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies, or "Baby Bells." The company — a holding company for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company — was created as a result of U.S. antitrust action against American Telephone & Telegraph in 1983. It took full control of Southwestern Bell Telephone on January 1, 1984.
In 1993, Southwestern Bell Corp. moved its headquarters to San Antonio, Texas, and, during its annual meeting of stockholders in 1995, the company announced that its name would be changed to ''SBC Communications, Inc''. The name change was an effort to reinforce the company's national and global reach and the company not only stated that "SBC" wasn't an acronym for Southwestern Bell Corporation, but that it did not stand for anything at all.
SBC then proceeded (as permitted by the Telecommunications Act of 1996) to acquire fellow Baby Bell Pacific Telesis, the Regional Bell operating company serving Nevada and California, in 1997 and the former independent Bell System franchise SNET (Southern New England Telephone).
SBC then announced plans to acquire Ameritech, the Regional Bell operating company serving Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and told the FCC that it would allow competitors access to local markets where it had had a monopoly if the FCC would allow them to acquire Ameritech. The FCC agreed and in May 1998, SBC and Ameritech announced the merger would move forward. 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.
On November 1, 1999, SBC became a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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 for more than $16 billion. The announcement came almost 8 years after SBC and AT&T called off their first merger talks and nearly a year after initial merger talks between AT&T 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 [4]. SBC changed its corporate name to 'AT&T Inc.', and it adopted an updated logo.
On December 1, 2005 the combined company began trading under the historic "T" stock ticker symbol on the NYSE. To differentiate from the preceding company, AT&T is formally known as "AT&T Inc.", while the preceding company was "AT&T Corp."
On Friday December 29, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the acquisition of 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).[5] The new combined company retained the name AT&T. [6] The deal consolidated ownership of both Cingular Wireless and Yellowpages.com, once joint ventures between BellSouth and AT&T. All services, including wireless, are currently offered under the AT&T name.[7][8]
New Chairman and CEO, Randall Stephenson, discussed how wireless services are the core of "The New AT&T". [3] With declining sales of traditional home phone lines, AT&T plans to roll out various new medias such as VideoShare, U-Verse, and to extend its reach in High Speed Internet into rural areas across the country. He also has stated that AT&T will not make any more acquisitions for the time being. AT&T announced on June 29, 2007, however, that it was acquiring Dobson Communications.
Of the twenty-two Bell Operating Companies which AT&T owned prior to the 1984 agreement to divest, ten have become a part of the new AT&T Inc. with the completion of their acquisition of BellSouth Corporation on December 29, 2006:
★ BellSouth Telecommunications (formerly known as Southern Bell and 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)
AT&T owns the following operating companies not considered Bell Operating Companies:
★ Southern New England Telephone — Now wholly owned, the original AT&T held 16.8% interest prior to 1984.
The following companies have gone to defunct status under SBC/AT&T ownership:
★ Southwestern Bell Texas - a separate operating company created by SBC and merged back into SWBT on December 30, 2001.
★ Woodbury Telephone - merged into Southern New England Telephone on June 1, 2007.
On January 15, 2006, AT&T began using new "doing business as" names for its Bell Operating Companies and their holding companies. The following d/b/a list shows the d/b/a names of each company, with its true legal name in parentheses, listed in order of acquisition. Holding companies are listed in bold; the only exception is 'Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.', which is not a holding company, as it has always been directly held by AT&T Inc. since its inception as Southwestern Bell Corporation.
AT&T Corporation and its holdings have been omitted, as its companies continue to do business under their legal name.
★ '''AT&T Inc.'''
★
★ AT&T Southwest (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P. as a whole)
★
★ AT&T Arkansas (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ AT&T Kansas (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ AT&T Missouri (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ AT&T Oklahoma (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ AT&T Texas (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ 'AT&T West' (Pacific Telesis Group)
★
★
★ AT&T California (Pacific Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Nevada (Nevada Bell Telephone Company)
★
★ 'AT&T East' (Southern New England Telecommunications Corporation)
★
★
★ AT&T Connecticut (The Southern New England Telephone Company)
★
★ 'AT&T Midwest' (AT&T Teleholdings, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Illinois (Illinois Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Indiana (Indiana Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Michigan (Michigan Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Ohio (The Ohio Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Wisconsin (Wisconsin Bell, Inc.)
★
★ 'AT&T South' (BellSouth Corporation)
★
★
★ AT&T Southeast (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. as a whole)
★
★
★ AT&T Alabama (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Florida (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Georgia (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Kentucky (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Louisiana (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Mississippi (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T North Carolina (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T South Carolina (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Tennessee (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
AT&T's current board mainly consists of members of SBC's board of directors.
★ Randall L. Stephenson — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
★ James A. Henderson
★ Gilbert F. Amelio
★ William F. Aldinger III
★ August A. Busch III
★ Martin K. Eby, Jr.
★ Charles F. Knight
★ Jon C. Madonna
★ Lynn M. Martin
★ Ronald M. Crump
★ John B. McCoy
★ Mary S. Metz
★ Toni Rembe
★ S. Donley Ritchey
★ Joyce M. Roche
★ Laura D'Andrea Tyson
★ Patricia P. Upton
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, AT&T is the United States' second largest donor to political campaigns, having contributed more than US$ 36 million since 1990, 56% and 44% of which went to Republican and Democratic recipients, respectively. A key political issue for AT&T is the question of which businesses win the right to profit by providing broadband internet access in the United States.[4]
In August 2007, 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 only heard the first line because the rest was censored[5] although, "AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said that the silencing was a mistake"[6]
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 [9]. The Department of Justice has stated they will intervene in this lawsuit by means of State Secrets Privilege [10].
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.[11] 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, to take 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.' ''"[12]
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.[13]
★ AT&T Bricktown Ballpark — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (formerly ''Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark, SBC Bricktown Ballpark)''
★ AT&T Center — San Antonio, Texas (formerly ''SBC Center'')
★ 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 Dallas, Texas, at the Cotton Bowl stadium.
★ AT&T Field — Chattanooga, Tennessee (formerly ''BellSouth Park'')
★ AT&T National
★ AT&T Plaza — Dallas, Texas (the new plaza in front of the American Airlines Center at Victory Plaza)
★ AT&T Park — San Francisco, California (formerly ''Pacific Bell Park'', ''SBC Park'')
★ AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
★ AT&T Red River Rivalry — Dallas, Texas (formerly ''Red River Shootout'', ''SBC Red River Rivalry'')
★ Jones AT&T Stadium — Lubbock, Texas (formerly ''Clifford B. and Audrey Jones Stadium'', ''Jones SBC Stadium'')
★ Sponsorship of the #31 car driven by Jeff Burton--Richard Childress Racing--NEXTEL Cup
★ AT&T 250 --NASCAR Busch Series race -- Milwaukee Mile
★ AT&T WilliamsF1 Team — based in Grove, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
★ AT&T Mobility
★ Bell System
★ Bell System Divestiture
★ Regional Bell Operating Company
★ Telecommunication
★ Lists of public utilities
★ Pacific Telesis—1997
★ Southern New England Telecommunications—1998
★ Ameritech—1999
★ American Telephone & Telegraph—2005
★ BellSouth—2006
1. The current company named AT&T was incorporated on October 5, 1983 as Southwestern Bell Corporation, later SBC Communications. Its buyout of AT&T Corporation resulted in its name changing from SBC Communications, Inc. to 'AT&T Inc.' [1]
2. Kleinfield, Sonny. The Biggest Company on Earth: A Profile of AT&T. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1981.
3. AT&T's new chief dialed in
4. Center for Responsive Politics retrieved 2007-06-21
5. AT&T's Pearl Jamming?
6. AT&T: Pearl Jam edit a mistake
★ AT&T corporate website
★ AT&T Center (formerly SBC Center) in San Antonio
★ Legal Battle with BellSouth over Domain Names: U.S. Supreme Court Case 05-718 Reuben Norman, Petitioner v. BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation
★ AT&T History and science resources at The Franklin Institute's Case Files online exhibit
★ Brand evolution of AT&T companies
★ Press Release announcing FCC Approval of SBC-Ameritech merger (1999-10-06)
★ Stock Quote from Yahoo!
★ Southwestern Bell Freedom Phone
★ Bell System Memorial
★ July 2005 IEEE Article
★ Yahoo! — AT&T Corp. Company Profile
★ ATT's most recent conference call transcripts
★ ''Unnatural Monopoly: Critical Moments in the Development of the Bell System Monopoly'' by Adam D. Thierer
★ "AT&T buys IBM's Global Network", BBC News, December 8, 1998
★ "SBC closes AT&T acquisition", CNet News, November 18, 2005
★ "SBC launches 'new' AT&T", AT&T archive, November 18, 2005
★ "AT&T to buy BellSouth for $67 billion", ''CNet News'', March 5, 2006
★ "AT&T gets final approval to acquire BellSouth, ''CNNMoney'', December 29, 2006
★ "AT&T and BellSouth Join to Create a Premier Global Communications Company", ''AT&T News Room'', December 29, 2006
'AT&T Inc.' () is the largest provider of both local and long distance telephone services, wireless service, and DSL Internet access in the United States. AT&T is based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Formerly SBC Communications, Inc., the company shed its name and took on the iconic AT&T moniker and the 'T' stock-trading symbol (for "telephone") after its acquisition of AT&T Corporation.
Since the break-up of American Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1984, most of the companies spun off from it (the "Baby Bells") have merged into three major US telecommunications groups: Verizon, Qwest, and AT&T Inc. Most of these companies are made up primarily of former components of American Telephone and Telegraph Company. For the new AT&T, these include many Bell Operating Companies and the long distance division. [2]
History
Founding, expansion
Southwestern Bell Corporation logo, 1984–1995
AT&T Inc. was founded in 1983 as 'Southwestern Bell Corporation', headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies, or "Baby Bells." The company — a holding company for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company — was created as a result of U.S. antitrust action against American Telephone & Telegraph in 1983. It took full control of Southwestern Bell Telephone on January 1, 1984.
In 1993, Southwestern Bell Corp. moved its headquarters to San Antonio, Texas, and, during its annual meeting of stockholders in 1995, the company announced that its name would be changed to ''SBC Communications, Inc''. The name change was an effort to reinforce the company's national and global reach and the company not only stated that "SBC" wasn't an acronym for Southwestern Bell Corporation, but that it did not stand for anything at all.
SBC corporate logo, 1997–2001
SBC then proceeded (as permitted by the Telecommunications Act of 1996) to acquire fellow Baby Bell Pacific Telesis, the Regional Bell operating company serving Nevada and California, in 1997 and the former independent Bell System franchise SNET (Southern New England Telephone).
SBC then announced plans to acquire Ameritech, the Regional Bell operating company serving Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and told the FCC that it would allow competitors access to local markets where it had had a monopoly if the FCC would allow them to acquire Ameritech. The FCC agreed and in May 1998, SBC and Ameritech announced the merger would move forward. 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.
On November 1, 1999, SBC became a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
SBC corporate logo, 1995–1997; 2001–2005
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.
AT&T Corporation acquisition
On January 31, 2005, SBC announced that it would purchase AT&T for more than $16 billion. The announcement came almost 8 years after SBC and AT&T called off their first merger talks and nearly a year after initial merger talks between AT&T 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 [4]. SBC changed its corporate name to 'AT&T Inc.', and it adopted an updated logo.
SBC-AT&T heritage transition logo, used 2005-2006
On December 1, 2005 the combined company began trading under the historic "T" stock ticker symbol on the NYSE. To differentiate from the preceding company, AT&T is formally known as "AT&T Inc.", while the preceding company was "AT&T Corp."
BellSouth acquisition
On Friday December 29, 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the acquisition of 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).[5] The new combined company retained the name AT&T. [6] The deal consolidated ownership of both Cingular Wireless and Yellowpages.com, once joint ventures between BellSouth and AT&T. All services, including wireless, are currently offered under the AT&T name.[7][8]
Transition to new media
New Chairman and CEO, Randall Stephenson, discussed how wireless services are the core of "The New AT&T". [3] With declining sales of traditional home phone lines, AT&T plans to roll out various new medias such as VideoShare, U-Verse, and to extend its reach in High Speed Internet into rural areas across the country. He also has stated that AT&T will not make any more acquisitions for the time being. AT&T announced on June 29, 2007, however, that it was acquiring Dobson Communications.
Bell Operating Companies
New AT&T payphone signage.
Of the twenty-two Bell Operating Companies which AT&T owned prior to the 1984 agreement to divest, ten have become a part of the new AT&T Inc. with the completion of their acquisition of BellSouth Corporation on December 29, 2006:
★ BellSouth Telecommunications (formerly known as Southern Bell and 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)
AT&T owns the following operating companies not considered Bell Operating Companies:
★ Southern New England Telephone — Now wholly owned, the original AT&T held 16.8% interest prior to 1984.
Former operating companies
The following companies have gone to defunct status under SBC/AT&T ownership:
★ Southwestern Bell Texas - a separate operating company created by SBC and merged back into SWBT on December 30, 2001.
★ Woodbury Telephone - merged into Southern New England Telephone on June 1, 2007.
"Doing business as" names
AT&T office with new logo and orange highlight from the former Cingular.
On January 15, 2006, AT&T began using new "doing business as" names for its Bell Operating Companies and their holding companies. The following d/b/a list shows the d/b/a names of each company, with its true legal name in parentheses, listed in order of acquisition. Holding companies are listed in bold; the only exception is 'Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.', which is not a holding company, as it has always been directly held by AT&T Inc. since its inception as Southwestern Bell Corporation.
AT&T Corporation and its holdings have been omitted, as its companies continue to do business under their legal name.
★ '''AT&T Inc.'''
★
★ AT&T Southwest (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P. as a whole)
★
★ AT&T Arkansas (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ AT&T Kansas (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ AT&T Missouri (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ AT&T Oklahoma (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ AT&T Texas (Southwestern Bell Telephone, L.P.)
★
★ 'AT&T West' (Pacific Telesis Group)
★
★
★ AT&T California (Pacific Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Nevada (Nevada Bell Telephone Company)
★
★ 'AT&T East' (Southern New England Telecommunications Corporation)
★
★
★ AT&T Connecticut (The Southern New England Telephone Company)
★
★ 'AT&T Midwest' (AT&T Teleholdings, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Illinois (Illinois Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Indiana (Indiana Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Michigan (Michigan Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Ohio (The Ohio Bell Telephone Company)
★
★
★ AT&T Wisconsin (Wisconsin Bell, Inc.)
★
★ 'AT&T South' (BellSouth Corporation)
★
★
★ AT&T Southeast (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. as a whole)
★
★
★ AT&T Alabama (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Florida (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Georgia (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Kentucky (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Louisiana (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Mississippi (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T North Carolina (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T South Carolina (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
★
★
★ AT&T Tennessee (BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc.)
Corporate governance
AT&T's current board mainly consists of members of SBC's board of directors.
★ Randall L. Stephenson — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
★ James A. Henderson
★ Gilbert F. Amelio
★ William F. Aldinger III
★ August A. Busch III
★ Martin K. Eby, Jr.
★ Charles F. Knight
★ Jon C. Madonna
★ Lynn M. Martin
★ Ronald M. Crump
★ John B. McCoy
★ Mary S. Metz
★ Toni Rembe
★ S. Donley Ritchey
★ Joyce M. Roche
★ Laura D'Andrea Tyson
★ Patricia P. Upton
Contributions to political campaigns
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, AT&T is the United States' second largest donor to political campaigns, having contributed more than US$ 36 million since 1990, 56% and 44% of which went to Republican and Democratic recipients, respectively. A key political issue for AT&T is the question of which businesses win the right to profit by providing broadband internet access in the United States.[4]
Censorship controversy
In August 2007, 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 only heard the first line because the rest was censored[5] although, "AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said that the silencing was a mistake"[6]
Privacy controversy
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 [9]. The Department of Justice has stated they will intervene in this lawsuit by means of State Secrets Privilege [10].
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.[11] 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, to take 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.' ''"[12]
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.[13]
Places/events/partners named after AT&T
The AT&T Center in San Antonio
★ AT&T Bricktown Ballpark — Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (formerly ''Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark, SBC Bricktown Ballpark)''
★ AT&T Center — San Antonio, Texas (formerly ''SBC Center'')
★ 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 Dallas, Texas, at the Cotton Bowl stadium.
★ AT&T Field — Chattanooga, Tennessee (formerly ''BellSouth Park'')
★ AT&T National
★ AT&T Plaza — Dallas, Texas (the new plaza in front of the American Airlines Center at Victory Plaza)
★ AT&T Park — San Francisco, California (formerly ''Pacific Bell Park'', ''SBC Park'')
★ AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
★ AT&T Red River Rivalry — Dallas, Texas (formerly ''Red River Shootout'', ''SBC Red River Rivalry'')
★ Jones AT&T Stadium — Lubbock, Texas (formerly ''Clifford B. and Audrey Jones Stadium'', ''Jones SBC Stadium'')
★ Sponsorship of the #31 car driven by Jeff Burton--Richard Childress Racing--NEXTEL Cup
★ AT&T 250 --NASCAR Busch Series race -- Milwaukee Mile
★ AT&T WilliamsF1 Team — based in Grove, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
See also
★ AT&T Mobility
★ Bell System
★ Bell System Divestiture
★ Regional Bell Operating Company
★ Telecommunication
★ Lists of public utilities
Former companies ultimately acquired by AT&T
★ Pacific Telesis—1997
★ Southern New England Telecommunications—1998
★ Ameritech—1999
★ American Telephone & Telegraph—2005
★ BellSouth—2006
References
1. The current company named AT&T was incorporated on October 5, 1983 as Southwestern Bell Corporation, later SBC Communications. Its buyout of AT&T Corporation resulted in its name changing from SBC Communications, Inc. to 'AT&T Inc.' [1]
2. Kleinfield, Sonny. The Biggest Company on Earth: A Profile of AT&T. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1981.
3. AT&T's new chief dialed in
4. Center for Responsive Politics retrieved 2007-06-21
5. AT&T's Pearl Jamming?
6. AT&T: Pearl Jam edit a mistake
External links
★ AT&T corporate website
★ AT&T Center (formerly SBC Center) in San Antonio
★ Legal Battle with BellSouth over Domain Names: U.S. Supreme Court Case 05-718 Reuben Norman, Petitioner v. BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation
★ AT&T History and science resources at The Franklin Institute's Case Files online exhibit
★ Brand evolution of AT&T companies
★ Press Release announcing FCC Approval of SBC-Ameritech merger (1999-10-06)
★ Stock Quote from Yahoo!
★ Southwestern Bell Freedom Phone
★ Bell System Memorial
★ July 2005 IEEE Article
★ Yahoo! — AT&T Corp. Company Profile
★ ATT's most recent conference call transcripts
★ ''Unnatural Monopoly: Critical Moments in the Development of the Bell System Monopoly'' by Adam D. Thierer
★ "AT&T buys IBM's Global Network", BBC News, December 8, 1998
★ "SBC closes AT&T acquisition", CNet News, November 18, 2005
★ "SBC launches 'new' AT&T", AT&T archive, November 18, 2005
★ "AT&T to buy BellSouth for $67 billion", ''CNet News'', March 5, 2006
★ "AT&T gets final approval to acquire BellSouth, ''CNNMoney'', December 29, 2006
★ "AT&T and BellSouth Join to Create a Premier Global Communications Company", ''AT&T News Room'', December 29, 2006
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