AT&T and Yahoo! announced a new multi-year strategic alliance that revises the previous revenue sharing arrangement under which AT&T paid Yahoo! a fee for each broadband user it served. The new agreement focuses instead on advertising-based revenue opportunities for both companies from search and display capabilities from either a mobile handset or a PC. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The companies said the new alliance includes the following features:
- A new look and feel for the att.net portal, "powered by Yahoo!," beginning in the second quarter, for new customers. Later in the year, the att.net portal, which will run on the My Yahoo! and Yahoo! Mail platforms, will be available to existing AT&T Yahoo! customers as well as those AT&T Internet customers in the former BellSouth service area and those with the legacy AT&T WorldNet service.
- Yahoo! provides search and display advertising for AT&T consumers on mobile devices and the PC.
- Once the new att.net portal launches later this year, any AT&T customer -- even those without AT&T Internet service -- can access the new Web portal and e-mail services at no additional charge. For example, an AT&T wireless customer in Seattle could establish an att.net e-mail address and access e-mail via a mobile smart device or a PC.
- Access to co-branded versions of Yahoo!'s mobile Web properties and the Yahoo! Go application for AT&T's 14.2 million broadband customers.
- AT&T's YELLOWPAGES.COM becomes the lead local search experience on both the wireless and PC screens for AT&T customers, bringing easy-to-use local search capabilities to customers at home or on-the-go.
- AT&T U-verse TV customers continue to have access to Yahoo! content through the service's interactive AT&T U-bar feature, where available.
