AT&T In the News: Press Release Headlines, Samples, Examples

AT&T Named One of the 2018 Best Workplaces in Chicago by Great Place to Work® and FORTUNE

Chicago, May 22, 2018.

Great Place to Work and FORTUNE honored AT&T* as one of the 2018 Best Workplaces in Chicago. The ranking considered more than 11,000 employee surveys from companies across the Windy City. AT&T took the No. 13 spot on the list.

Great Place to Work, a research and consulting firm, evaluated more than 50 elements of team members’ experience on the job. These included employee pride in the organization’s community impact, belief that their work makes a difference, and feeling their work has special meaning. Rankings are based on employees’ experiences, no matter who they are or what they do.

“It’s our people that make AT&T a great workplace. Our employees work hard every day to serve customers and to improve lives in Chicago by mentoring, volunteering and giving,” said Paul La Schiazza, AT&T Illinois president. “While our work is important and challenging, it’s inspiring to see our employees come together and make it so much fun.”

The Best Workplaces in Chicago stand out for exceling in the nation’s competitive marketplace. AT&T recently launched its most advanced customer care facility in Chicago and will create 500 new jobs in the area in 2018.

“Chicago has one of the largest metropolitan economies in the United States. It plays a significant economic role not just domestically, but globally,” said Michael Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. “As one of our nation’s economic main staples, the city of Chicago can be proud that organizations like AT&T are building this country’s economy by creating great places to work for all.”

The Best Workplaces in Chicago is one of a series of rankings by Great Place to Work and FORTUNE based on employee feedback from Great Place to Work-Certified™ organizations. AT&T was also ranked as a 100 Best Companies to For by Great Place to Work and FORTUNE.

AT&T to Acquire Mexico Wireless Provider Iusacell

Dallas, Texas, Nov 07, 2014.

AT&T has entered into an agreement with Grupo Salinas to acquire Mexican wireless company Iusacell for US$2.5 billion, inclusive of Iusacell debt. Under the terms of the agreement, AT&T will acquire all of Iusacell’s wireless properties, including licenses, network assets, retail stores and approximately 8.6 million subscribers. The acquisition will occur after Grupo Salinas, the current owner of 50 percent of Iusacell, closes its announced purchase of the other 50 percent of Iusacell that Grupo Salinas does not own today.
Iusacell offers wireless service under both the Iusacell and Unefón brand names with a network that today covers about 70 percent of Mexico’s approximately 120 million people. AT&T plans to expand Iusacell’s network to cover millions of additional consumers and businesses in Mexico.

“Our acquisition of Iusacell is a direct result of the reforms put in place by President Peña Nieto to encourage more competition and more investment in Mexico. Those reforms together with the country’s strong economic outlook, growing population and growing middle class make Mexico an attractive place to invest,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. “Iusacell gives us a unique opportunity to create the first-ever North American Mobile Service area covering over 400 million consumers and businesses in Mexico and the United States. It won’t matter which country you’re in or which country you’re calling – it will all be one network, one customer experience.

“Mexico is still in the early stages of mobile Internet capabilities and adoption, but customer demand for it is growing rapidly,” Stephenson said. “This is an opportunity for us to provide Iusacell the financial resources, scale and expertise to accelerate the roll-out of world-class mobile Internet speeds and quality in Mexico, like we have in the United States.”

Mexico has the second largest economy and one of the highest per capita GDPs in Latin America. The country today enjoys a strong credit rating, relatively low inflation and low unemployment. And Mexico and the United States are connected geographically, economically and culturally.

Iusacell operates a 3G wireless network based on the global GSM/UMTS technology that AT&T uses in the United States. Iusacell owns between 20 and 25 MHz of 800 MHz spectrum, primarily in the southern half of the country, including Mexico City and Guadalajara, and an average of 39MHz of PCS spectrum nationwide. Iusacell’s Total Play business, including the network assets to support pay TV and wireline broadband services will be spun out to Grupo Salinas’ existing shareholders prior to AT&T closing its acquisition of Iusacell.

AT&T said Iusacell represents a natural geographic expansion of its wireless footprint into a country with a growing economy that is interdependent with the U.S. economy. Recent changes to government policies in Mexico have created a friendly climate for foreign investment. This transaction gives AT&T the assets necessary to create a first-ever North American Mobile Service area for U.S. customers calling or visiting Mexico, and Mexican customers calling or visiting the United States –whether they live near the border or thousands of miles away. The United States’ large and growing Hispanic population has close ties to Mexico and many current AT&T business customers have operations in Mexico. Mexico is the United States’ third largest trading partner.

The percent of Mexico’s population that has wireless service lags Latin America overall. Smartphone penetration in Mexico is about half that of the United States. AT&T expects that as the price to acquire a smartphone continues to decline and the availability of higher-speed mobile networks in Mexico increases, there will be higher smartphone adoption and increased mobile Internet usage. This coupled with Mexico’s growing economy, growing middle class, relatively young population, rising urbanization rates and higher disposable incomes are expected to drive growing demand for high-quality, high-speed mobile service in the years ahead.

Iusacell will continue to be headquartered in Mexico City following the transaction closing.
The companies believe that the synergy potential from the combination would include: customer additions from being able to create a one-of-a-kind North American Mobile Service area which will cover more than 400 million consumers and businesses in Mexico and the United States; economies of scale through combined purchasing opportunities; and the sharing of best practices. AT&T has a strong track record of successfully integrating companies it acquires and delivering on its financial commitments.

AT&T said Iusacell is a good long-term growth opportunity, with manageable near-term cash flow and capital expenditure requirements.

Both AT&T and Iusacell are leaders in corporate citizenship with a strong commitment to giving back to the communities in which they operate. Together, the combined company will work to mutually enhance their corporate responsibility initiatives for their employees and communities.

Iusacell’s and AT&T’s employees will benefit from global career development opportunities, as well as contribute their skills and experience to the combined organization’s continued growth.

The transaction is subject to review by Mexico’s telecom regulator IFT (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones) and Mexico’s National Foreign Investments Commission. AT&T expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2015.

Separate from its acquisition of Iusacell, AT&T said its Project VIP network investment plan is ahead of schedule. AT&T has essentially completed the expansion of its 4G LTE network, which now covers more than 300 million people in the United States. It has completed the build-out of wired high-speed Internet service to 57 million U.S. customer locations. And the company has deployed fiber connections to 600,000 of its planned 1 million multi-tenant U.S. business locations.

AT&T’s VIP-related capital investment levels will peak in 2014, as the company has said previously. As a result, AT&T expects its 2015 capital expenditure budget for its existing businesses to be in the $18 billion range. This will bring the company’s capital spending as a percent of total revenues to the mid-teens level — consistent with its historical capital spending levels.

AT&T’s 2015 capex guidance does not affect the company’s commitment, when it closes its acquisition of DIRECTV, to begin enhancing and expanding its U.S. broadband network to 15 million customer locations, primarily in rural areas.

AT&T will provide guidance on the pro-forma financial impacts of its DIRECTV and Iusacell acquisitions when those deals close. Upon completion of both deals, AT&T’s revenues will be more diversified across services and geographies.

AT&T said it will continue to focus its capital investments on the most strategically important assets and opportunities, such as acquiring DIRECTV and Iusacell, while continuously reviewing and rationalizing its portfolio of less strategic assets.

AT&T will provide additional 2015 financial guidance in January when it announces its 4Q 2014 results.

AT&T Completes Acquisition of Time Warner Inc.

Dallas, Texas, June 15, 2018.

AT&T Inc. has completed its acquisition of Time Warner Inc., bringing together global media and entertainment leaders Warner Bros., HBO and Turner with AT&T’s leadership in technology and its video, mobile and broadband customer relationships.

“The content and creative talent at Warner Bros., HBO and Turner are first-rate. Combine all that with AT&T’s strengths in direct-to-consumer distribution, and we offer customers a differentiated, high-quality, mobile-first entertainment experience,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc. “We’re going to bring a fresh approach to how the media and entertainment industry works for consumers, content creators, distributors and advertisers.”

Stephenson said the future of media entertainment is rapidly converging around three elements required to transform how video is distributed, paid for, consumed and created. Today, AT&T brings together:

• Premium Content: Broadly distributed, robust premium content portfolio that combines leading movies and shows from Warner Bros., HBO and Turner, along with more targeted digital content from Bleacher Report, FilmStruck and AT&T’s investment in Otter Media, among others.
• Direct to Consumer Distribution (D2C): AT&T has more than 170 million D2C relationships across its TV, video streaming, mobile and broadband services in the U.S., mobile in Mexico, TV in Latin America, in addition to D2C digital properties such as HBO NOW, Boomerang, FilmStruck and CNN.com.
• High-Speed Networks: AT&T‘s leading wireless and fiber network, including investments in new technology such as 5G, will provide the network bandwidth required as customers increase engagement with premium video and emerging 4K and virtual reality content.

Company Structure, Executive Leadership

AT&T Inc. consists of four businesses. This structure allows each business to operate independently and move quickly, while at the same time innovating across AT&T with content, connectivity and advertising. The four business are:

• AT&T Communications provides mobile, broadband, video and other communications services to U.S.-based consumers and nearly 3.5 million companies – from the smallest business to nearly all the Fortune 1000 – with highly secure, smart solutions. Revenues from these services totaled more than $150 billion in 2017.
• AT&T’s media business consists of HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. Together, these businesses had revenues of more than $31 billion in 2017. A new name for this business will be announced later.
• AT&T International provides mobile services in Mexico to consumers and businesses, plus pay-TV service across 11 countries in South America and the Caribbean. It had revenues of more than $8 billion in 2017.
• AT&T’s advertising and analytics business provides marketers with advanced advertising solutions using valuable customer insights from AT&T’s TV, mobile and broadband services, combined with extensive ad inventory from Turner and AT&T’s pay-TV services. A name for this company will be announced in the future.

Jeff Bewkes, former chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc., has agreed to remain with the company as a senior advisor during a transition period. “Jeff is an outstanding leader and one of the most accomplished CEOs around. He and his team have built a global leader in media and entertainment. And I greatly appreciate his continued counsel,” Stephenson said.

As previously announced, leading the four businesses and reporting to Stephenson will be:

• John Donovan, CEO of AT&T Communications;
• John Stankey, CEO of AT&T’s media business;
• Lori Lee, CEO of AT&T International and Global Marketing Officer of AT&T Inc.; and,
• Brian Lesser, CEO of AT&T’s ad and analytics business.

All of Jeff Bewkes’ direct reports will now report to John Stankey.

Acquisition Financial Details

Under the terms of the merger, Time Warner Inc. shareholders received 1.4 shares of AT&T common stock, in addition to $53.75 in cash, per share of Time Warner Inc. As a result, AT&T issued 1,185M shares of common stock and paid $42.5B in cash. Including net debt from Time Warner, we now have $180.4B in net debt.

We will begin consolidating Time Warner Inc. results effective June 15, 2018. The company expects the acquisition to provide significant financial benefits:

-Accretive year-one adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow; strengthened dividend coverage

-Increased synergies to $2.5 billion

•  $1.5 billion in annualized cost synergies by end of year 3 following close
• $1 billion of annualized revenue synergies by end of year 3

-Maintain solid balance sheet and improved credit metric

• Net debt to adjusted EBITDA 2.9x at close
• 2.5x at end of year 1; return to historical levels by end of year 4