Posted on: Tuesday, February 1, 2005

AT&T initials may live on

Los Angeles Times

Which three letters will it be — AT&T or SBC?

Now that SBC Communications Inc. has a deal to buy AT&T Corp., the acronym-obsessed telecom world is wondering which initials will live on.

The decision is up to SBC. Its chairman, Edward E. Whitacre Jr., wasn't saying much yesterday when the companies announced SBC's proposed $16 billion acquisition of its onetime parent company.

"We obviously need a few days to figure all this out," Whitacre said. "The AT&T brand is a terrific brand, and I'm certain it'll live on in a way that'll make them proud and us proud."

There is little doubt that AT&T, the nation's oldest telephone company, is the premier brand with instant national and international recognition and a simple stock symbol — T.

A Forrester Research Inc. survey found that 8 million residents said they had AT&T local phone service, yet the company never had more than 4 million residential customers.

SBC, on the other hand, hasn't been fully accepted as a brand by customers in many of the 13 states where it is the dominant local phone company.