"Teleconferencing spurs more excited talk"

By Jon Van
Tribune staff reporter
Published August 8, 2004

Here's the basic idea:

"In 2003, when most telecom industry indicators pointed downward, teleconferencing was up 10 percent worldwide, said Marc Beattie, a senior partner with Wainhouse Research in Boston..."

"Smaller firms have prospered in part because the long-distance companies that traditionally dominated teleconferencing--AT&T Corp., MCI Inc., Sprint Communications Co. and Global Crossing--have been preoccupied with falling long-distance rates, regulatory problems and shrinking revenues." [emphasis added]

So, is it in Cingular's financial interest to block its customers from using free VOIP teleconferencing services? Absolutely. The only question is whether they're powerful enough to get away with it.

For those who are unaware, Cingular Wireless was formed in 2001 as a joint venture of BellSouth and SBC Communications ("SBC" stands for "Southwestern Bell Corporation," NOT to be confused with BellSouth Corporation. BellSouth and SBC were 2 of the original 9 independent local-exchange companies resulting from the Bell System divestiture in 1984). One result of former-President Bill Clinton's conciliatory and devastating Telecommunications Act of 1996 is that AT&T has nearly reassembled itself.

For example, after the industry was deregulated, from 1996-98 SBC acquired 3 of the divested companies: Pacific Telesis, SNET, and Ameritech. Then in 2001, BellSouth and SBC merged their wireless divisions to form Cingular.

Meanwhile, back in 2000, AT&T Corp. had taken its wireless services division public as "AT&T Wireless," and the following year spun it off as a separate company. However, in 2004 AT&T Wireless put itself on the auction block and was eventually acquired by Cingular.

Now, recall that Cingular was owned in a 60-40 split between SBC and BellSouth and that SBC (including itself) had consolidated 4 of the 9 divested companies. So in 2005, when SBC acquired AT&T Corp they managed to reassembled 5/9 of the original AT&T, and owned 60% of AT&T Wireless (through Cingular). If there was any doubt about SBC's intent, shortly after the acquisition they renamed to AT&T, Inc.

The coup de grace came in 2006, when AT&T, Inc was allowed to acquire BellSouth. The merger essentially meant that 6 of the 9 independent local-exchange companies, created to break up AT&T's monopoly in 1984, were now owned by AT&T, Inc. In addition, AT&T who had sold off its entire wireless division just 2 years earlier, had reacquired 100% of it, along with the rest of Cingular Wireless' network and customers.

On January 15, 2007, AT&T officially began phasing out the Cingular brand, in favor of an as yet unannounced variant of "AT&T."