Canadian Executives Confirm Desire to Implement Mobile IP Technologies

Sixty per cent of Canadian executives report extensive use of mobile technologies today

Toronto, July 26 2007 - AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced today that Canadian executives are on par with their global counterparts when it comes to integrating mobile technologies onto an IP network. Seventy-three per cent of Canadian businesses expect to migrate mobile and voice data to a convergent IP network by next year compared to 72 per cent of global executives, according to a global survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for AT&T.

According to the survey, Canadians indicated that the cost of acquiring and deploying mobile technology is the biggest obstacle to implementation (reported by 43 per cent of the respondents). In addition, only 45 per cent of Canadian executives have outlined a clear strategy to achieve mobile IP integration compared to 76 per cent of US executives.

The global survey of 395 senior executives reveals that mobile use is most extensive among senior management in Europe (91 per cent), while in Canada the figure is currently 60 per cent). By 2010, the business use of cell phones and other mobile devices in Canada by management and sales staff will increase to 87 and 79 per cent respectively, and is expected to escalate among administrative, marketing and IT staff.

The research shows that in all regions increased workforce productivity is viewed as the key benefit of mobility. But in Canada, executives also recognize a broad range of other advantages, from improving customer service and reducing operational and infrastructure costs, to supporting remote teams.

While enterprise mobility promises significant gains in employee productivity, it also poses tricky network and employee management challenges. Some companies are also struggling to integrate mobile applications with the existing IT infrastructure, and security needs to be tightened, with far more corporate data circulating beyond the boundaries of the workplace. To complicate matters further, informal knowledge sharing between remote workers must be maintained, as employees congregate less often.

Executives at most companies are seeking to establish a balance. Priority must be given to protecting corporate data, but too strict a regime will stifle productivity gains. The combination of mobile voice and data applications with IP convergence means a considerable expansion in the reach of the enterprise and its workforce. As the survey reveals, enterprise tools are the wireless data applications that will expand the most within corporate networks over the next three years. In Canada, these include customer relationship management applications and sales force and field force automation applications. While only modestly deployed at the moment, within three years they will both have penetrated 48 per cent of firms, respectively.

"The integration of mobile applications into the IP network is the next step on the pathway to convergence," said Steve Taylor, vice president sales, AT&T Global Services Canada. "The push towards wireless/wireline integration is driven by the need to provide a unified customer experience across multiple networks. The key to success is a comprehensive integration strategy."

The full results of the survey are published by AT&T in a white paper entitled 'Enterprise IP Goes Mobile', written using research conducted by the EIU. Copies of the white paper can be downloaded from the AT&T Web site at: http://www.corp.att.com/emea/insights/whitepaper/mobility_series4.html

Other white papers from AT&T and the EIU in this series are available at: http://www.corp.att.com/emea/insights/whitepaper/

Survey and Research Methodology
As part of the research for the paper, the Economist Intelligence Unit conducted an online worldwide survey of 395 senior executives across 51 countries and over 20 industries. The majority of respondents came from Western Europe (32%), Asia Pacific (30%), and North America (30%). Other respondents came from Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. 63% of those polled hailed from large firms with annual revenue of more than US$500 million. The top five industry sectors represented by the survey respondents were professional services, financial services, manufacturing, IT and technology, and healthcare, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. In addition to the survey research, the EIU conducted a series of one-to-one in-depth interviews with senior executives and analysts.

About the Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit (www.eiu.com) is the business information arm of The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist. Through its global network of over 500 analysts, the Economist Intelligence Unit continuously assesses and forecasts political, economic and business conditions in nearly 200 countries. As the world's leading provider of country intelligence, the Economist Intelligence Unit helps executives make better business decisions by providing timely, reliable and impartial analysis on worldwide market trends and business strategies.

About AT&T
AT&T Inc. is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access, and voice services. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding video entertainment offerings to include next-generation television services such as AT&T U-verse(SM) TV. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at www.att.com.