AT&T Tries to Lasso Qwest, Verizon Customers

Watch out, incumbents and Vonage: there’s a new dialtone cowboy rolled into town, and we’ll see if the town’s big enough for the all of you.

AT&T Inc. said it would trial a bundle for three months that includes its mobile service and the CallVantage local VoIP service, in central New Jersey and Portland, Ore. The bundles will be sold at 14 AT&T Wireless locations for the $5-off discounted monthly rate of $19.99.

CallVantage will be an out-of-region local service play, putting AT&T head to head with RBOCs Verizon Communications Inc. in New Jersey and Qwest Communications International Inc. in Portland, not to mention targeting the already shaky VoIP provider Vonage.

AT&T said that if the trials are successful, it would roll the service out to other out-of-region markets.

CallVantage was originally launched in 2004, but aside from the addition of a softphone option last September, has not been heavily marketed since the 2005 acquisition by SBC. It is available in some markets in the AT&T local service area in the Midwest and the South.

AT&T Inc. www.att.com

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