To: Jeff Hayden who wrote (6077 ) 11/24/1999 9:05:00 PM From: Secret_Agent_Man Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 12823
washingtonpost.com pni/print&articleid=A39716-1999Nov23 AT & T Plans Push Back Into Homes, Firms By Peter S. Goodman Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, November 24, 1999 ; E1 AT & T Corp., shut out of the local telephone business since the breakup of the old Bell system 15 years ago, plans a major push back into the nation's homes and businesses with wireless technology offering both phone and high-speed Internet service, knowledgeable sources close to the company said yesterday. The strategy, which the sources said will cost $1.2 billion next year, is seen by analysts as a way to hedge the company's huge bet on cable television lines as the conduit for bringing local customers telephone and Internet service. Long the nation's largest long-distance telephone company, AT & T also has quickly become the nation's largest owner of cable systems. But the size of its investment-about $120 billion-and technical challenges have worried Wall Street, and AT & T's stock has fallen by 20 percent since May. Under the new plan, which sources said would be announced at a Wall Street analysts' meeting Dec. 6 in New York, the company will string equipment from its existing cellular telephone towers, then transmit voice and data traffic to antennas atop homes and businesses. AT & T had no official comment on the matter last night. AT & T will become a competitor in what is known as the fixed wireless business with companies such as Teligent Inc., WinStar Inc. and NextLink Communications Inc. AT+T will begin with three markets next year-Dallas, plus two undisclosed cities-then expand across the country, the sources said. Fixed wireless competitors noted that AT & T has tried this before-three years ago, when the company announced Project Angel, which foundered as officials decided the technology was too costly. "It's nice to see that AT & T is making a bet on the viability of fixed wireless again," said Jonathan Askin, chief legal counsel for the Association for Local Telecommunication Services. "Teligent and WinStar and the other fixed wireless carriers have about a three-year head start.AT & T has vast resources, but they don't have the facilities." The sources said AT & T plans to finance its new project by issuing a tracking stock for its wireless holdings, similar to the wildly successful offering from Sprint Corp. for its Sprint PCS business. The capital from the tracking stock would also help AT & T expand its mobile phone network, which already covers about 75 percent of the nation.