AT&T Corp. plans merge AT&T Wireless Services Inc. into the corporation by 1999, and appoint Dan Hesse, current AT&T Wireless president and CEO, head of the company’s customer-care units.
“AT&T has actually been in an evolution of bringing wireless into the total AT&T,” said Eileen M. Connolly, director of financial communications with AT&T. “There’s no magical cutover date. The plan is to continue moving wireless into AT&T. Looking out into next year, we would anticipate Dan heading up all customer-care units on the consumer side of the business.”
Hesse did not return calls by RCR press time.
AT&T today is crafting a plan of how to structure a new consumer marketing organization by early next year, said Connolly. The long-distance carrier in June announced its intent to purchase the nation’s second-largest cable company, Tele-Communications Inc., and said it would combine its long-distance, wireless and Internet services units with TCI’s cable, telecommunications and high-speed Internet businesses to create a new subsidiary called AT&T Consumer Services. Metrocall Inc. is purchasing AT&T’s Advanced Messaging Division and is awaiting Federal Communications Commission approval.
The partnership with TCI will allow AT&T to market its wireless and long-distance products to TCI’s large base of cable customers, either through interactive promotions via customers’ televisions or during service calls. TCI’s cable lines pass about one-third of all U.S. households.
Wireless services will become part of a bundle of services the companies will offer to customers. Analysts note AT&T’s bundling strategy so far has been nascent, and say it’s still unclear whether consumers want bundled services.
“The view here is to make sure we will continue to provide to our customers a focused approach. It is very important that wireless become a part of the total service package for AT&T customers,” said Connolly. “We feel that the structure should complement that customer requirement.”
Connolly said AT&T already had merged AT&T Wireless’ sales force with its own consumer and business markets divisions last year. AT&T Chief Executive Officer Michael Armstrong told security analysts earlier this year that AT&T would streamline the marketing of its diverse mix of products and services as a means to further reduce overhead.
