AT&T Plans Push in Wireless, Ads – WSJ.com

AT&T Inc., which became the world’s largest telecom company by closing the $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corp., will aggressively push new wireless services to corporate customers and consumers, and make advertising a key revenue stream, according to Chairman and Chief Executive Edward E. Whitacre Jr.

With full control of cellphone operator Cingular Wireless, formerly a joint-venture with BellSouth, the San Antonio-based phone company will begin selling AT&T-branded wireless services to its large pool of corporate phone and Internet customers, allowing it to offer discounts for bundles that were impossible when Cingular was a separate entity. AT&T corporate users will be able to access their files and desktops remotely, whether they are plugged into a land-line Internet connection or connected to the Web wirelessly.
[Edward Whitacre Jr]

Consumers will have a choice of signing up for a new package of cellphone and Internet service rather than just the traditional bundle of land-line phone and Internet service, the company says. Until now AT&T had worried about cannibalizing its land-line phone business. AT&T has also been testing cellphones that can run on Wi-Fi networks when at home, letting consumers save money on their cellphone bills and potentially get better reception indoors.

“The biggest asset we bought here was Cingular,” said Mr. Whitacre. “We’re about to become a company with wireless at its heart.”

AT&T also will begin selling advertising on cellphones, television and its Internet-access service this year, allowing advertisers to reach consumers across multiple platforms with a single operator. Advertisers will be able to buy spots for TV and broadband beginning early this year, with wireless ads following suit later this year. The advertising business could generate several billion dollars in revenue per year in the next five years, the company says.