AT&T Historical Perspective

AT&T Wireless according to their licenses that they have with the Federal

Communications Commission (FCC) has the potential to serve 99% of the United States (US)

population because of the territories that’s covered by their licenses. Currently AT&T Wireless serves more than 20 million subscribers. Through AT&T’s WorldConnect services all their subscribers can get services in more than 100 countries (Funding Universe, 2011).
The origins of AT&T Wireless stems from the merger between AT&T Corp with

McCaw Cellular Communications. The development of wireless technology first began with AT&T Corporation, where cellular technology was invented 1947 in the Bell laboratories for law enforcement (Funding Universe, 2011). The main reason these systems were developed for law enforcement was so that patrol cars can stay in contact with each other, because prior to this they communicated through radio frequencies which tend to collapse if too many patrol cars were using it. AT&T engineers solved the solution of the issues with the radio frequency by creating special transmitters capable of sending calls between patrol cars regardless of what area they were located in this was a precursor to the creation of cellular towers in the 20th century (Funding Universe, 2011).
The first actual cellular systems were not developed until 1984 by AT&T Corp. in the cities of Chicago and Washington, D.C. Even though AT&T Corps was the first to develop cellular systems other corporate competitors took the lead in introducing it to the masses. AT&T Corp. realized the potential of cellular phone service once they met McCaw Cellular Communications, and as a result both companies merged to form what is currently known as AT&T Wireless. Prior to McCaw merging with AT&T Corp. were in the business of cable television, which they realized wasn’t bringing them any profit therefore they embarked into the cellular communication market. The first big acquisition of McCaw Cellular Communications made prior to merging with AT&T Corp. was the purchase of LIN Broadcasting in the amount of $3.5 billion in order to acquire cellular licenses (Funding Universe, 2011). In 1992 McCaw Cellular Communications sold one-third of its company to AT&T Corp. for $3.8 billion which would start the slow but eventual merger of the two companies.
The merger of AT&T Corp. and McCaw Cellular Communications is considered the second largest merger in the history of US business with an estimated deal of $11.5 billion (Funding Universe, 2011). The merger was complete in 1994 and created AT&T Wireless Group, a fully owned subsidiary of AT&T Corp. that ranked as the nation’s largest telecommunications company, which were 30% larger then their closest rival. One major achievement that AT&T Wireless Group made in the telecommunications field was the introduction of Digital One Rate, which was a nationwide calling plan that allowed subscribers to pay a flat fee no other charged for roaming and/or long distance (Funding Universe, 2011). The introduction of this new plan increased the number of subscribers by 50% which eventually jammed AT&T Wireless Group’s systems. Entering the 21st century AT&T Wireless Group had annual revenue of $7.6 billion and more than 12 million subscribers (Funding Universe, 2011).
In early 2000 AT&T Wireless Group decided to go public and allow the public to invest money when AT&T Corp. operated its wireless operations as a tracking stock. A tracking stock is where a investor is allowed to invest in the performance of a particular operation without having any interest in the operation (Funding Universe, 2011). AT&T Wireless Group’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) was completed at the end of April 2011 with a $360 million share, $10.6 billion offering that ranked as the largest IPO in the history of US business. In October 2000 AT&T Corp decided to split itself into four businesses with a concentration on wireless, consumer, business, and broadband (Funding Universe, 2011). The reason for this split is because AT&T Corp. thought they would be worth more then if they continued operating as a single entity. In July 9, 2001 we saw the emergence of the independent company know as AT&T Wireless Services Inc.
AT&T Wireless Inc. as an independent business ranked as the third largest national cellular carrier with 16 million subscribers, trailing Verizon and Cingular. From 1999-2002 competition between cellular companies were intense where they were having price wars, and a result they lost half of their subscribers. As a result of this in February 2004 Cingular Wireless acquires AT&T Wireless Inc. for the amount of $41 billion, the merger was completed on October 2004 which made Cingular one of the largest wireless provider in the US (CNN, 2004). In fall of 2005 it was decided that the Cingular service would be marketed under the AT&T brand, in order to keep a majority of their current subscribers. In 2006 AT&T Wireless Inc. bought Bell South making them the sole owner of Cingular Wireless, which gave AT&T Wireless Inc. full control and authority of Cingular Wireless. As a result in 2007 AT&T rebranded Cingular to AT&T Wireless (New York Times, 2007). In the rebranding of the Cingular it was very important to AT&T Wireless that they effectively merged the two companies in a way that would continue to appeal to both of their subscribers so that they wouldn’t lose them to their other wireless communications rivals.
T-Mobile Historical Perspective
T-Mobile is a German owned mobile network operation and a subsidiary of Deutche Telekom which belongs to the FreeMove Business alliance that is designed to provide better service for European customers that are roaming (Celnet, 2011). The origins of T-Mobile in Europe stem from Mercury Connunications’ One2One mobile phone which was acquired by Deutche Telekom in August 1999 and was rebranded to T-Mobile.
T-Mobile is centrally based in Germany, and has 101 million subscribers globally. T-Mobile is considered the sixth largest mobile phone service provider by subscribers and the third largest multinational (Celnet, 2011). T-Mobile USA is the fourth largest wireless telecommunications with 36 million subscribers. Even though T-Mobile has its origin from Europe in May 2001 they decided to branch out in the US by acquiring VoiceStream and Powertel for the deal amount of $24 billion. In September of 2002 both companies were rebranded with the T-Mobile name. T-Mobile throughout the years has made it their prime focus to continually improve their service area and at the same time has strived for continual expansion and growth. As a result in September 2007 T-Mobile announced the acquisition of SunCom Wireless for $2.4 billion, with this acquisition they expanded their network coverage to North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands (Celnet, 2011). T-Mobile USA unlike its international counterparts doesn’t have automatic access to international roaming.

AT&T SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
• Largest provider of broadband in US.
• World’s largest communications holding company by revenue
• Broad portfolio of various products and services (wireless, local exchange services, and long distance).
• Capable network capacity, both physical and wireless.
• AT&T exclusivity with Apple
Weaknesses
• Increasing price competitiveness market both retail and wholesale markets.
• Too many company obligations and liabilities from old business unit spin-offs.
Opportunities
• Further industry consolidation by acquisitions.
• Wireless growth through various partnerships (Apple/iphone).
• Emerging markets/global expansion
• Further industry growth with 4G technology.
Threats
• Competition in the wireless industry.
• Emerging technologies: falling behind smaller companies.
• Price competition with other rivals.

References
AT&T Preparing to Be-Brand Cingular Wireless Article (2007). Retrieved August 3, 2011 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/technology/12phone.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

Cingular Nabs AT&T Wireless for 41Billion (2004). Retrieved August 3, 2011 from: http://money.cnn.com/2004/02/17/technology/cingular_att/

Cellular Merger Approved (2004). Retrieved August 4, 2011 from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62521-2004Oct25.html

Wall Street Critiques AT&T (2010). Retrieved August 4, 2011 from: http://www.cwa6132.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:wall-street-critiques-atat&catid=40:news-articles

History of T-mobile (2011). Retrieved on August 4, 2011 from: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/telecos/T-mobile.php

AT&T Wireless Service, Inc. (2011). Retrieved August 3, 2011 from: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/ATamp;T-Wireless-Services-Inc-Company-History.html