Save Access

from: NWI.com

Deregulated AT&T rolls in Hoosier land
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 12:14 AM CDT

BY KEITH BENMAN
kbenman@nwitimes.com

AT&T Indiana President George Fleetwood is touting the benefits of last year's sweeping telecom deregulation, saying it has resulted in more than 1,000 new jobs in Indiana and a $250 million investment in new technology.

In his annual swing through Northwest Indiana to meet with political leaders and others, Fleetwood on Monday said he had no new announcements on expanded services here, but said a number are in the works.

"Stay tuned," Fleetwood said. "You never know when we'll be in a neighborhood near you."

Since passage of HB 1279 last year, AT&T has delivered DSL service to 33 more rural areas of the state, including Shelbyville in Lake County, Fleetwood said. The company is delivering on its pledge to make DSL available to 80 percent of customers statewide.

When satellite is added to the mix, AT&T is confident it can offer broadband nearly everywhere, Fleetwood said.

The telecom provider also is establishing call centers employing more than 1,000 people combined in Indianapolis and Evansville. It has rolled out its next-generation AT&T U-verse TV in Indianapolis, Evansville and Bloomington and Muncie.

Nationally, AT&T is expected to pick up about 10 million customers as the exclusive carrier for the iPhone, introduced two weeks ago by Apple Computer.

HB 1279 phases out regulation of AT&Ts traditional phone services and paves the way for new broadband services. It was among the most sweeping telecom legislation in the nation when passed.

AT&T and other phone providers argued they needed the bill to compete with cable providers and Internet providers who are offering phone service.

Cable companies opposed the bill, saying it would give AT&T an unfair advantage and stifle competition. Local communities feared statewide video franchising would cut into revenues they receive for franchising cable services.

A number of other states have since passed legislation similar to Indiana's. Last week, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed legislation that will create statewide video franchising. Though that was a key component of HB 1279, the Illinois legislation fell far short of Indiana's in deregulating telecom.

Fleetwood said Indiana still has an important leg up over Illinois, and hinted more jobs and service offerings will continue to flow into Indiana.

Consumer critics of HB 1279 said it would drive rates for many basic phone services up, not down.

AT&T will be implementing a $1 increase this August in what are called "vertical" phone services, such as call-waiting and caller ID, Fleetwood said. But he pointed out basic phone service in the state is about 25 percent lower than it was in 1986.

On the jobs front, he pointed out AT&T is bringing back jobs it had outsourced in past years, with the 475-job Indianapolis DSL call center the prime example of that. Those jobs previously were outsourced by AT&T and done overseas.

"We are in such a competitive environment that customers need to have a good experience when they come to us," Fleetwood said.