SBC Communications

AT&T Inc. announced it will be firing about 4,600 employees, or 1.5% of its workforce, as it continues to integrate staff between AT&T and SBC Communications Inc. SBC acquired AT&T in a $16 billion deal in 2005.The company said the …

Dave Dorman, a former AT&T chief executive and currently on Motorola Inc.’s board of directors, has gotten the nod to become the board’s next chairman. Dorman has served on the board since 2006. Dorman assumes his new position May 5, …

Battling for brand recognition, or more particularly, connecting a brand with a certain image, is more than apropos in the wireless industry-it very often defines the success of each company’s marketing scheme.Ever since the entertainment and sports worlds opened their …

Telecom giant AT&T Inc. was the nation’s second-largest advertiser during the first quarter, according to TNS Media Intelligence, second only to multinational manufacturer Procter & Gamble Co., which makes a range of products including household cleaning items and laundry detergents.TNS …

AT&TEd Whitacre announced that he will retire as CEO and chairman of the board at AT&T Inc. effective June 3. The 65-year-old executive is the longest-serving CEO in the telecommunications industry, having served as chairman and CEO of Southwestern Bell …

Ed Whitacre announced that he will retire as CEO and chairman of the board at AT&T Inc. effective June 3. The 65-year-old is the longest-serving CEO in the telecommunications industry, having served as chairman and CEO of Southwestern Bell since …

Marc LeFar, who shepherded the $1 billion-plus marketing budget of the former Cingular Wireless L.L.C. for the past four years, has resigned from AT&T Inc., the wireless provider’s new parent. An AT&T spokesman said LeFar “wanted to do something else” …

Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCR Wireless News to rant and rave about …

With a fresh year just under way, many wireless carriers are re-evaluating their marketing strategies-in some cases putting their accounts up for review. Cingular Wireless L.L.C. last week began a nationwide re-branding campaign to wrap all of its customers under …

Motorola Inc.’s plan to drop $200 million on broadband home equipment provider Netopia Inc. has been cleared by United States antitrust authorities. Based in Emeryville, Calif., Netopia makes wired and Wi-Fi modems, routers and gateways. The company sells to individuals, …

WASHINGTON-Top mobile-phone carriers may have gained leverage to have stringent conditions imposed on AT&T Inc.’s $79 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp., with the Government Accounting Office concluding competition in the special access market is generally lacking in major U.S. cities.Jessica …

WASHINGTON-AT&T Inc. offered to conduct a series of wireless broadband trials as part of a package of concessions aimed at winning Federal Communications Commission approval of its proposed $79 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp. AT&T said the newly merged company …

WASHINGTON—Federal Communications Communication Chairman Kevin Martin is pushing for an Oct. 12 vote on the proposed $67 billion merger of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp.—owners of No. 1 wireless carrier Cingular Wireless L.L.C.—and apparently has rejected urgings from the wireless …

Agents of change are at work. Some are obvious and tangible, like Sprint Nextel Corp.’s questionable decision to sack bygone chief operating officer Len Lauer for sad financial results at a company whose chief executive officer has yet to articulate …

BOCA RATON, Fla.-SBA Communications Corp., the nation’s fourth-largest tower owner, posted second-quarter losses of $75.6 million despite increased revenues of $87.4 million. Last year in the same quarter the company recorded $63.2 million in revenues and a loss of $26.2 …

WASHINGTON—A confluence of legal, technological and political forces could slow or significantly alter mega-merger mania that has raged largely unabated in the wireless and wireline telecom sectors in recent years, with AT&T Inc.’s $67 billion bid for BellSouth Corp. materializing …

WASHINGTON-AT&T Inc. Chairman Edward Whitacre last week told the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee he would not oppose conditions on special access lines as part of any regulatory approval of the company’s proposed $67 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp. Whitacre told …

WASHINGTON-Sprint Nextel Corp. urged the Federal Communications Commission to reject the proposed $67 billion merger of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. because of the negative impact it would have on “special access”-dedicated lines used by wireless carriers to transmit calls …

WASHINGTON—Sprint Nextel Corp. urged the Federal Communications Commission Monday to reject the proposed $67 billion merger of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. because of the negative affect it will have on “special access”—dedicated lines used by wireless carriers to transmit …

WASHINGTON-While consumer advocates, organized labor, industry analysts and lawmakers gave mixed reviews to AT&T Inc.’s proposed $67 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp.-co-owners of Cingular Wireless L.L.C.-most signs point to the Federal Communications Commission as the major battlefield for hashing out …

When Cingular Wireless L.L.C. closed on its purchase of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. in late 2004, the company poured out an estimated $300 million in marketing during the fourth quarter of that year, sending out everything from a “wedding” invitation …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission wants to make sure that the sale of customer call records-which has erupted into this year’s biggest wireless scandal-has not been aided and abetted by telecommunication company employees. “Is there any evidence that dishonest insiders at …