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  5. Profits Down At AT&T And SBC; Bundle, DSL Up: Page 2 of 2
Wireless Infrastructure

Profits Down At AT&T And SBC; Bundle, DSL Up: Page 2 of 2

Declining profits at AT&T and SBC Communications underscore the struggles of the entire telecommunications industry, although both firms sought earnestly for a silver lining in their latest financial reports.
April 22, 2004

SBC -- like its BellSouth, Qwest, and Verizon regional phone siblings -- enjoys a virtual monopoly connecting to local networks while AT&T has no natural monopoly. On Wednesday AT&T was delivered a sharp blow by the FCC, which turned down its petition seeking to avoid paying long distance access fees on calls completed partially over the Internet. The decision means that AT&T could be required to pay a few billion dollars in back fees. The FCC move followed a decision last month by a U. S. Court of Appeals that will force AT&T and other telecommunications firms to pay steeper access fees to connect to the regional telephones monopolies.

AT&T's Chairman and CEO David Dorman took note of the telecommunications industry's difficult environment "characterized by over supply and intense pricing pressure" and pointed to VoIP as a plus sign for the future in spite of the negative FCC decision.

AT&T this week continued to rollout its VoIP residential service in California and Texas. Introduced earlier in the month in New Jersey and Texas, AT&T said it will offer the service in 100 major U. S. markets by the end of the year.

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