AT&T also clearly understood our concerns about security and addressing. The company offers a range of frame relay and VPN WAN services that let large organizations avoid passing information over the public Internet, regardless of whether they are running client VPN software. For IP addressing, the company offers public and private as well as static and dynamic options, with a fixed range of addresses dedicated for specific customers. AT&T Wireless will even integrate a customer-supplied fixed range of IP addresses into its network. And the company offers an array of Web acceleration services, including a client-server offering.
Cingular is a joint creation of SBC Communications (with a 60 percent controlling interest) and BellSouth (40 percent). The financial stature of these carriers makes the massive acquisition of AT&T Wireless possible. SBC is shelling out $21 billion, while BellSouth is ponying up $15 billion. Cingular is the second-largest U.S. cellular carrier, with approximately 25 million subscribers, but its growth rate is slightly below average, and its ARPU is the lowest in the industry. However, the imminent merger will make it the market leader in terms of total subscribers (46.7 million combined subscribers compared with Verizon Wireless' 40.4 million). Cingular and AT&T Wireless have partnered on various service offerings for several years, and the compatibility of their networks should make the merger relatively painless, at least in terms of technology. The integration of business processes and customer service is likely to be a bit rockier.
Cingular has focused on the consumer market, but its infrastructure is well-positioned for enterprise users, especially with the addition of AT&T Wireless, which not only brings customers, but also additional spectrum in many markets. In June, the company completed its GSM/GPRS network, which now covers 226 million POPS. At the time of this writing, EDGE services were available in 84 percent of its coverage area, and the company indicated that the remaining 16 percent will have such services by the end of October.
To promote its EDGE data service, Cingular has begun to discount its retail pricing of $79.99 for unlimited data on its Data Connect plan, offering promotional contracts at $49.99 per month, a price that makes the service more easily justifiable for widespread enterprise deployment. We hope that's a trend. Interestingly, Cingular does not offer a discounted unlimited data offering for smartphones. It's business-oriented smartphone offerings are more limited than its competitors and include the PalmOne Treo 600 and the RIM BlackBerry 7280.
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