AT&T will stop competing for local and long-distance residential customers in Ohio, Missouri, Washington, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas and New Hampshire. The announcement does not affect AT&T's enterprise, government and other small- and medium-sized business customers. It will also not affect customers with DSL and cable modem offerings who subscribe to the company's VoIP service.
AT&T said its action follows the Bush administration and the FCC's decision not to appeal a recent Federal court decision that overturned FCC UNE-p rules. The company expects the Bell companies to raise wholesale rates as early as November, at which point AT&T believes it would not be unable to economically serve customers with the competitive bundles currently available.
"We foresee a future with less choice for consumers," said David Dorman, chairman and CEO of AT&T. http://www.att.com
- In response, SBC issued a statement saying "Local phone competition without AT&T is like a fish without a bicycle. Consumers can rest assured that competition will continue…."
