Frost & Sullivan selected AT&T as the recipient of the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Award for Market Leadership in enterprise Wide Area Network (WAN) services in recognition of its ability to achieve a leading position among network operators, as well as market and technology innovation.

"AT&T has been innovative with the range of Global Enterprise WAN services offered, the reach of these services, and the technologies offered," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Maria Zeppetella. "The company's goal is to be the 'provider of choice' serving MNCs' and governments' global needs for competitive, flexible, and integrated WAN solutions that span the globe."

Besides its extensive coverage in the United States, AT&T's network reach already extends to 137 countries supported by 1600+ MPLS-enabled service nodes and has 14 Internet Data Centers located across Europe and Asia/Pacific. The company also boasts 24/7 global support through regional work centers, in- language and currency billing and contracting, and comprehensive SLAs.

The new AT&T, a combination of AT&T and the former SBC, reported operating revenues of $63.1 billion for 2006, excluding its 60% proportionate ownership of Cingular Wireless, which supports over 61 million subscribers. Subsequently, AT&T closed a deal to purchase BellSouth in December 2006 taking over complete ownership of Cingular. AT&T states that now more than three quarters of its revenues come from wireless, business and wholesale services.

AT&T's portfolio of managed and unmanaged global enterprise WAN services include the AT&T ATM, AT&T Frame Relay, MPLS-based virtual private networks (VPNs), and International Private Line. Additionally, AT&T offers other global services including enterprise voice, VoIP, managed Internet service, corporate calling card, managed security services, call center applications, and remote access. While Ethernet access is provided domestically now, the company is rolling out Ethernet access to VPNs globally.

"AT&T owns and manages its global, transparent MPLS-enabled IP network to deliver unique customer solutions," noted Zeppetella. "Using its own seamlessly integrated global architecture, the company is able to provide one consistent service portfolio with one consistent service experience, and network management capabilities on a global basis."

AT&T is focused on addressing MNC customer needs with account planning, shared expectations, client satisfaction surveys and stewardship. The combination of its market and technology innovation initiatives in the area of global enterprise WAN services will help the company to maintain its market leadership position.

Frost & Sullivan presents this Award to a company that has demonstrated market share leadership through the implementation of market strategy. The recipient has displayed excellence in all areas of the market leadership process, including the identification of market challenges, drivers and restraints, as well as strategy development and methods of addressing these market dynamics.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.