The Telephone And Telegraph Corporation

In an increasingly competitive telecommunications market, Bell has continued to surpass expectations by remaining profitable and by growing as a company. Through aggressive marketing campaigns and humanitarian promotions, Bell has attained a superior public image that has established the company as a titan of modern telecommunications. The future is bright for this behemoth

This merger was expected to be scrutinized by both the Department of Justice and the FCC. Many believed this merger would decrease competition and increase prices which will harm consumers, the Department of Justice agreed and so did the FCC. The Department of Justice believed if the two companies if combined would be in an extremely powerful position, providing high-capacity data services to almost half of American households and limiting the choice of those customers. Almost a year after the announcement the deal fell apart, Comcast decided to walk away from the 45.5 billion dollar deal. The attorney General at the time Eric Holder tipped his hat to companies like Netflix who raise concerns about such a merger.

The federal government has recently filed a lawsuit against AT&T and Time warner for trying to vertically merge together. The reason why the government is filing a lawsuit against the merge is that AT&T- Time Warmer will be able to demand higher prices for consumers to receive networks such as TNT, TBS, and CNN. AT&T makes the argument that this vertical merge has earned the green light from the government in the past. For example, in 2011 when NBC and Universal merged together as a vertical merge the government approved it but the Justice Department and the FCC set a variety of conditions in order to approve the vertical merge between the companies. The DOJ also argues that by completing this merge the companies will raise cost to consumers

The primary business of AT&T Incorporation is telecommunication. This American leading company provides both fixed telephony and mobile telephony. Amongst other services that the company offers include broadband television subscription. Currently, AT&T Incorporation is a leading fixed telephony provider and the second largest mobile telephony provider in United States of America. AT&T Incorporation has steadily grown to become the third largest company in Texas, United States. In addition, it is the largest company in Dallas.

Regulators prohibit entry into other related markets such as PCS or local telephone service in return for letting the acquisition go through.

I. BACKGROUND: CelluComm and GMCT and the Industry AT&T’s Bell Laboratories cellular telephone networking innovation had enabled several cellular network operators to get licenses from the FCC to operate in separate license territories right about the same time AT&T was broken up in early 1980s. These operators were either companies like Cellular Communication Services, Inc. (CelluComm) or small entrepreneurs who had won license territories through the lottery system. CelluComm’s  president  and  founder  Ric  Jenkins  was  known  for  being  an  aggressive businessman  who  had  extended  it  to  a  200  million  dollar  enterprise  ranking  in  the  top  20  of  the industry.  Key  to

AT&T has much strengths and weaknesses and threats as an organization. This SWOT will serve as a tool for identifying alternative strategies for the organization and help define a growth plan. AT&T is a corporate business, their global headquarters is located in Dallas Texas, and the current chief executive officer (CEO) is Randall L. Stephenson. For more than a century they have consistently provided innovative, reliable high quality products and services and excellent customer care. They are recognized as the leading provider of IP-based communications services and businesses. They’re also the top U.S. provider of wireless, high speed internet access, WIFI, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services.

This organization encourages the development of a comprehensive work environment where all employees are respected and can achieve at their fullest potential. AT&T has a very strong culture and their values are not only shared with management, but by all employees. While mergers are known to affect an organization’s culture, AT & T has proven success with at least three mergers. In October of 2004 AT&T completed a merger with Cingular to become AT&T wireless. In November of 2005, SBC and AT&T finalized their union and with that AT&T Corporation became AT&T Incorporated. The organization became the largest phone company in the United States when they acquired SBC, serving 13 states in the western and southwestern part of the U.S. Their latest acquisition came in Mar of 2006 when Bellsouth was purchased ("AT&T Inc." Notable Corporate Chronologies Online Version, 2006). With the merger of Bellsouth, AT&T picked up another nine states in the Southeast to provide available service in a total of 22 states (Reardon, 2006). The merger of AT&T and BellSouth, along with the consolidation of Cingular Wireless, will continue advancement in the communications and entertainment industry, where they will continue to invent new resolutions for consumers and businesses. These accomplishments prove that AT&T has a successful organizational culture.

Over the past decade, significant changes in regulations, advances in technology, and shifts in competitive dynamics began transforming the cable industry. Companies within the industry were forced to adapt by acquiring economies of scale and scope. American Cable Communication was seeking to acquire AirThread Connections for three reasons. The two companies could help each other become more competitive in an industry that is moving toward bundled package service offerings. The acquisition would help both companies expand into the business market, and lastly American Cable was in a unique position to add value to AirThread’s operations. They could obtain a significant amount of

AT&T is a leader in telecommunication services, including cell phones, wireless, U-verse, digital TV, high speed internet, DSL, and home phone. AT&T currently employs over 280,000 people worldwide. AT&T is now ranked #7 on Fortune 500 list, where its main competitor, Verizon, is listed as #13. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, AT&T Inc is the largest U.S. local and long distance phone service provider and second largest wireless service provider, with over 87.0 million wireless customers. AT&T was created in 2005 after SBC Communications acquired AT&T Corp.

Over the next four years, AT&T took action to succeed in changing the environment. It invested 35 billion dollars upgrades to its infrastructure. By mid –2000 AT&T had evolving networks- data, broadband and wireless. IN January 2005, AT&T bought SBC for 16 billion dollars and this created the industry’s premier communications and networking company. And just recently AT&T has merged with Cingular to created even more ties to what you like.

Fixed costs (TFC) are costs that are not related to the amount of company’s output. In the case Prestige Data Service, fixed costs include all the cost associated with space, equipment, system maintenance and development. Due to the lack of detailed information, materials, sales promotions and corporate services will be treated as fixed costs. Under this circumstance, total fixed cost is $201,656 (Exhibit 1).

Firstly, the antitrust lawsuit followed by a sudden divestiture could cause uncertainties towards the company’s future and might change the shareholders perception of AT&T in an unfortunate way.

The next study that is examined was the Five Competitive Forces. This shows the industry’s competitors, threats of new entrants and substitutes, and the power of the customers and suppliers. The main rival competitors within the TV service providers industry are Dish Network, Direct TV, Comcast Cable, Time Warner Cable, and Atlantic Broadband. The rivalry of these competitors could lead to lower profits due to price competition and new technology as each is trying to stay competitive in the industry.

In this market, AT&T may be forced to use restrictive trade practices to increase their services prices and restrict their production (Sjögren and Vifell, 2014). The organization may also in many instances collide with other organizations in the same industry in an attempt to stabilize an unstable market.