By Jeff Baumgartner; Light Reading ~  May 23, 2020

John Stankey, AT&T’s incoming CEO, has said that the struggling DirecTV business isn’t for sale. However, it appears that bankers are preparing to change his mind and recommend AT&T blast DirecTV from its balance sheet, posthaste.

Fox Business’s Charlie Gasparino reports that bankers are set to approach AT&T with a strong suggestion to offload the underperforming DirecTV “soon” as AT&T continues to grapple with rising debt loads following the acquisition of Time Warner, the need to slash costs and push ahead with ambitious (and expensive) 5G commitments.

“This is coming from bankers. This is a deal they’re going to pitch,” Gasparino said. While he couldn’t say whether AT&T will go for the idea, “they might not have much choice. At least that’s what the banks are telling us,” he added.

By Tali Arbel; The Associated Press ~ May 20, 2020

AT&T says it will stop advertising its wireless network as “5G Evolution” after a division of the Better Business Bureau determined that its language was misleading. The network AT&T branded this way is not, in fact, 5G — a new technology for fast wireless data.

While AT&T and other wireless carriers in the U.S. have now begun rolling true 5G wireless networks, AT&T in December 2018 began talking about a “5G Evolution” service that was already available in hundreds of markets, and placed a “5G E” icon on phones when they connected to the network. But it was not 5G. It was merely the existing 4G network with minor speed boosts, at least compared to the fastest type of 5G networks.

AT&T has teamed up with NPower to augment its curriculum to help train military veterans and their families for careers in the fast-growing cybersecurity field.

By Quincy Preston; Dallas Innovates ~ May 18, 2020

Virtually overnight, businesses had to move to a remote workforce in the pandemic. With the increased number of people adapting to that digital transformation comes a greater need to keep the critical online infrastructure safe.

AT&T wants to help protect our data infrastructure and, at the same time, support military veterans and their families with a new initiative to train them for careers in cybersecurity. In an expanded collaboration with national nonprofit NPower, the Dallas-based telecommunications giant will contribute $200,000 to a program to do just that, the company announced.

Via “News Wire Feed”; Light Reading ~  May 15, 2020

DALLAS – AT&T and Cradlepoint are expanding their relationship to make it easier for enterprise and public safety customers to purchase end-to-end wireless wide-area network (WAN) solutions. Under the new agreement, customers can now order Cradlepoint wireless edge solutions and have them fulfilled and billed directly from AT&T.

As of today, customers can easily purchase select Cradlepoint wireless routers with AT&T’s fast and reliable LTE service along with an optional worry-free, no overage AT&T Wireless Broadband (AWB) data plan.

Public safety and other frontline emergency services organizations can also purchase Cradlepoint FirstNet Ready™ wireless routers with a FirstNet® service data plan.

Business Wire ~ May 12, 2020

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–John Stephens, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer of AT&T Inc.* (NYSE:T), spoke today at the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit, where he provided an update to shareholders.

Stephens discussed AT&T’s commitment to its customers and employees during the Coronavirus pandemic. He said it is difficult to predict the length or the depth of the economic impact from the pandemic or its effect on the company’s overall business.

However, Stephens said that with the resiliency of AT&T’s wireless, broadband and enterprise businesses, he has confidence in the company’s ability to continue to generate strong cash flow to invest in key capital areas including fiber, 5G and HBO Max, comfortably cover its dividend and pay down debt. Additionally, Stephens said the company is moving forward with its transformation plans on operational costs and efficiencies.

By Mike Dano; Light Reading ~  May 11, 2020

AT&T today counts more than 1.3 million FirstNet connections across more than 12,000 public-safety agencies – an impressive feat given that AT&T first launched FirstNet services just two years ago.

It’s also notable considering that, so far, 5G is nowhere to be found inside FirstNet’s portfolio despite 2020 being hyped as the “year of 5G.”

However, the officials at FirstNet are finally pulling back the veil on 5G by detailing some of their initial planning efforts around the technology. The agency confirmed that one of its main technological goals for this year would be to pursue investments in “initial generational upgrades to the FirstNet Core to enable 5G network capabilities.”

“This investment opportunity will also set us on a path to enable 5G capabilities when they are ready for public safety’s use,” the agency said in its 2019 annual report to Congress. However, FirstNet did not specify when a 5G launch might happen.

As work-from-home policies persist, AT&T is providing a special offer giving businesses remote contact center capabilities with expedited implementation

Via AT&T Communications; PR Newswire ~ May 04, 2020

DALLAS, May 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — AT&T* today unveiled its new AT&T Cloud Contact Center platform empowering businesses to rapidly and cost-effectively transform their customer experience through a superior omnichannel experience.

AT&T Cloud Contact Center’s open platform, based on the Five9 service, combines robust contact center functionality with AT&T’s award-winning global network and comprehensive suite of voice and collaboration tools to deliver highly reliable, agile, scalable, and highly secure capabilities.

By Mike Dano; Light Reading ~  Apr 28, 2020

Mike King is the director of network and telecommunications for the University Texas-Galveston Medical Branch (UTMB), which provides healthcare services across wide swathes of urban and rural Texas.

And amid the pandemic, telehealth technology is suddenly front and center in King’s work.

Specifically, King said the number of UTMB’s telehealth “encounters” has more than doubled due to the spread of COVID-19, from around 1,000 per day to 2,000 per day or more – which means that roughly half of all the provider’s work with patients is now done remotely. These interactions happen either on the phone or via videoconference, depending on the issue and the equipment available, and connect a stuck-at-home patient with a doctor who is either at the hospital or at home.

From Chuck Walston; Seeking Alpha ~ Apr 27, 2020

Summary

• In past articles, I evaluated AT&T as a mediocre investment.

• There is a significant percentage of the investment community that questions the safety of the dividend.

• The yield hovers near 7% while the forward PE is near 8.

In November, when AT&T (T) shares were flirting with $40, I wrote an article predicting the stock wouldn’t see much upside. Here is how I summed up Ma Bell’s prospects.

By Scott Moritz & John J Edwards III; Bloomberg ~ Apr 24, 2020

April 24, 2020, 10:45 AM EDT Updated on April 24, 2020, 2:45 PM EDT

• Stankey starts July 1, with Stephenson as executive chairman
• Company’s transition into media giant still hangs in balance

AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson, under pressure from investors to stem customer losses and justify his $85 billion foray into films and TV, will step down from that role on July 1, handing the job to his handpicked successor, John Stankey.

Stephenson, 60, is retiring but will serve as executive chairman through January to ensure a smooth transition, AT&T said Friday. Stankey, 57, has been president and chief operating officer since October.