AT&T Launches Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in the Golden State


SAN FRANCISCO -April 20, 2004 /Wi-Fi Technology News/- AT&T announced the availability of its residential Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service, called AT&T CallVantageSM Service, to consumers throughout the Golden State, providing a high-tech alternative for their personal communications needs.

AT&T CallVantage Service began setting benchmarks two weeks ago for what the company believes will be the industry's most reliable and innovative broadband phone service in the country as it made the service generally available to consumers in New Jersey and Texas. Now the company is expanding its service footprint in California for consumers in the Los Angeles, Oakland, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Riverside/San Bernadino metropolitan areas. The service will be expanded to other areas in California and the nation over the coming months.

Today, the company also announced the local availability of AT&T CallVantage Service in parts of New York and in San Antonio, Texas.

"AT&T already provides traditional residential local service to more than 4 million households nationwide, but AT&T CallVantage Service marks the beginning of an exciting new era in voice communications that gives customers another competitive choice," said Cathy Martine, AT&T senior vice president for Internet Telephony, Consumer Marketing and Sales. "AT&T will continue to lead the adoption of VoIP services by both businesses and consumers as it delivers the next generation of communications that our customers demand."

AT&T CallVantage Service requires a customer to have a high-speed Internet connection to the home. While a growing number of households have access to these broadband connections through their local cable or telephone company, only about one in five subscribe nationally. Broadband penetration in California, at about 24 percent, ranks near the top in the United States according to data from TNS Telecoms.

VoIP applications might just be the "value-add" that consumers are seeking to justify their investment in broadband, Martine said.

AT&T CallVantage Service is different than traditional phone services because through the use of IP-based networks it can offer customers typical features such as call waiting, three-way calling, and call forwarding, and far more advanced ones as well. Indeed, consumers will get unprecedented convenience and control with innovative features including:

"Call Logs," which tracks incoming and outgoing calling with "click to dial" capability;
"Do Not Disturb," which allows customers to receive calls only when they want, while letting emergency calls ring in;
"Personal Conferencing," which enables users to set up a meeting with up to nine additional callers;
"Locate Me," which enables home phones to find customers by ringing up to five phones all at once or one right after the other;
"Voicemail with eFeatures," which allows customers to hear their messages from any phone or PC and forward the voicemail to anyone on the Web via e-mail.
All that is required for service is an easy-to-connect, plug-in telephone adapter (TA) provided by AT&T, and a broadband Internet connection and regular telephone supplied by the customer. It is simple to use and easy for consumers to install -- typically in 10 minutes.

AT&T CallVantage Service works with most cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband connections. The TA is compatible with most home computer networks and may be used in conjunction with various home network routers. And, the adapter can be used from almost any location where there is a telephone and a broadband connection. That gives customers the ability to stay connected by taking this service with them when they travel.

To kick-start the AT&T CallVantage Service launch, AT&T will offer a special introductory rate of $19.99 a month for six months to those who subscribe by May 31, 2004. This promotional rate includes a complete calling solution that provides unlimited local and long-distance domestic calling, including calls to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, discount rates for international calling, and a suite of advanced features that customers have never experienced before. AT&T CallVantage will cost $39.99 a month thereafter. The company plans to add many more advanced features over the next 12 months.

As a special incentive, the company will offer AT&T CallVantage customers one month of free service (maximum of 12 months) for each referral and sale made through its "Refer-a-Friend" program.

The company's commitment is to expand AT&T CallVantage Service to 100 major markets by year's end as part of AT&T's growing strategic focus on IP-based communications services. The company expects to sign up 1 million business and consumer customers by year-end 2005.

"Imagine extending this set of features to your entire family and the connectedness that functionality will provide. With an IP-based service, imagination combined with software opens up enormous possibilities," Martine added.

AT&T CallVantage Service is an innovative service that promises to transform the way people communicate. A core concept to the service, built on AT&T Labs patented technology, is the ability to quickly introduce new features and capabilities to the platform.

"Exciting new technologies like VoIP can only succeed if pro-competitive local phone policies continue to be front and center with the California Public Utilities Commission," said Ken McNeely, AT&T vice president of Law and Government Affairs who leads the company's California efforts.

"While VoIP certainly can be considered one of the key future technologies for communications, we cannot forget that it has been the availability of fair, cost-based wholesale rates and the Unbundled Network Elements Platform (UNE-P) that have provided millions of residential and small business customers across the Golden State with the freedom to select a competitive local phone service provider.

"A vibrant and growing competitive local phone market is absolutely essential to support the investment and innovation that is helping to move us into the future," he said. "The delivery of new, innovative technologies such as VoIP would not have been possible without the solid foundation the UNE-P platform provides."

With the addition of AT&T CallVantage Service, AT&T offers consumers a broad range of communications services designed to meet almost any need and budget. AT&T's portfolio of offers includes everything from new and innovative services like broadband telephony to traditional bundled packages of classic local, long distance and Internet services.

The company plans to support the marketing of AT&T CallVantage Service with an extensive communications campaign that will include mass market advertising on television, radio and in print and through direct mail, viral marketing and online. Advertising begins in California today.

To learn more about AT&T CallVantage Service, consumers can visit http://www.att.com/CallVantage or call 1-866-816-3815 extension 70339.

About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.