AT&T plans mobile advertising push

Following completion of its $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth, AT&T will aggressively develop and market new wireless services including mobile advertising, according to chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Whitacre said assuming full control of Cingular Wireless, formerly a joint venture with BellSouth, was the driving force behind the deal. 'The biggest asset we bought here was Cingular,' Whitacre said. 'We're about to become a company with wireless at its heart.' To that end, AT&T will launch a suite of new telecom services and bundled packages targeted at enterprise customers and consumers, and will begin selling advertising across its wireless, television and Internet platforms, a move the company says could generate several billion dollars in revenue per year in the next five years. AT&T plans to roll out its mobile advertising initiatives later in 2007, but declined to comment on specifics except to say it will pursue a cautious approach for fear of alienating subscribers. For more on AT&T's wireless future: - read this Wall Street Journal article (sub. req.)"