20121001Letter of Notification of Internal Merger.pdf

at&t John D Sisemore
Director
External Affairs
208 S Akard St, Rm 2532
Dallas, TX 75202
T: 214.757.3244
F: 214.746.2232
[e-mail]
Via Overnight Delivery and Email
September 12, 2012
Gene Fadness - Executive Assistant & Public Information Officer
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472 West Washington
Boise, ID 83702
[e-mail]
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RE: Notification of Internal Corporate Merger of AT&T Communications of the Mountain
States, Inc. and AT&T Corp., and Application to Amend AT&T Communication's
Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to Reflect AT&T Corp. as a Certificated
Entity
Dear Mr. Fadness:
This letter is intended to provide notice to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission ("PUC") of a
merger between AT&T Communications of the Mountain States, Inc. ("AT&T Comm."), which
is a certificated telecommunications carrier in Idaho, and its parent company, AT&T Corp. In
recognition of this action, AT&T Comm. will also be seeking the Idaho PUC's consent to amend
its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity ("CPCN") issued on August 26, 19961, to
reflect AT&T Corp. as the certificated entity.
In an effort to improve the provision of intrastate regulated telephone services, AT&T Comm.
and AT&T Corp. are consolidating the multiple and duplicative state-specific entities under
which they currently provide service. The merger is part of an ongoing effort by AT&T Inc., the
parent of AT&T Corp., to simplify the corporate structure of its subsidiary companies. The
merger will provide a more flexible corporate structure that will enable AT&T Corp. to more
efficiently achieve potential operational, administrative, and strategic objectives.
The planned merger is entirely internal to AT&T Corp. As the corporate parent of AT&T
Comm., AT&T Corp. will retain complete ownership of the assets, operations and authorizations
used to provide service in the State of Idaho. The merger will be transparent to customers.
There will be no change in the rates or substantive terms and conditions under which AT&T
Corp., through AT&T Comm., currently services customers, either under tariff or contract.
AT&T Communications of the Mountain States, Inc. was initially granted a CPCN to provide Intrastate
InterLATA Telephone and Telecommunications Service in Idaho pursuant to a February 23, 1984, Order of the
Idaho PUC transferring the Certificate of Authority of Mountain Bell and Pacific Northwest Bell in Idaho for the
provision of Intrastate InterLATA service (Order No. 18711). This certificate included authorization for AT&T
Comm. to provide Title 61 services. Following the enactment of the Idaho Telecommunications Act of 1988,
AT&T Comm. elected to remove its services from Title 61 regulation and instead be subject to the provisions of
Title 62. AT&T Comm.'s Certificate of Authority was amended on August 26, 1996 to include the provision of
Local Exchange Service (Order No 26575; Amendment to Certificate No. 295).
Gene Fadness
September12, 2012
Page 2
Once the merger is completed, the same personnel who manage these services will continue to
do so and there will be no change in the network assets used to provide these services. In fact,
customer account information, including any PlC freezes or other customer-preferred settings
that may have been instituted by a customer, will remain untouched. Although not required by
any relevant Idaho PUC rule, in June 2012, AT&T Comm. began to notify its customers, through
bill messaging, of the planned merger and that the merger will not affect customers' rates and
service.
On a nation-wide level, the consolidation is planned to take effect on October 31, 2012. On or
about that date, in those states where the consolidation is planned to occur, the affected AT&T
affiliates will be merged into AT&T Corp. In Idaho, AT&T Corp. is expected to assume the
operations, assets and customers of AT&T Comm. on that date. The surviving entity, AT&T
Corp., will make any required name changes to tariffs and contracts.
In addition to this Notice, in the near future, AT&T will be filing an Application to amend the
CPNC of AT&T Comm. to reflect the merger with AT&T Corp. As support for this Application,
AT&T will be providing the relevant information required pursuant to IPUC Rules of Procedure,
Rule 112, for the IPUC to consider this request. I will provide you with a copy of that
Application once it is filed.
Please contact me to discuss any questions or concerns
Very truly yours,
John D. Sisemore
cc: Jean Jewell, Secretary, Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Elizabeth Ferrell, Genera! Attorney, AT&T Services Inc.
Roger Moffitt, General Attorney, AT&T Services, Inc.