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PHILADELPHIA/WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. is close to an agreement to acquire BellSouth Corp. for about $65 billion, a deal that would recombine Ma Bell with four of the seven original Baby Bells, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday.

An announcement of the long-expected deal, which would bring the Cingular Wireless joint venture under one roof, is expected later on Sunday, said the sources, declining to be identified by name.

Together, AT&T and BellSouth would have a national long-distance telephone and data network, residential customers stretching from Connecticut to Florida to California and business customers comprising more than half of the Fortune 1000, analysts have said.

AT&T declined to comment, while BellSouth could not be immediately reached for comment. AT&T recently was formed when SBC Communications Inc. acquired AT&T Corp. in a $16 billion deal.

The newly combined company would be trailed by Verizon Communications, which last year bought MCI Inc. Qwest Communications International Inc., the final remaining Baby Bell, covers Minnesota to Washington state.

AT&T owns 60 percent of the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier Cingular Wireless, while BellSouth owns the remaining 40 percent. A deal would bring that prized asset under one company, which Wall Street analysts have said would streamline management, make Cingular more nimble and allow one parent company to enjoy all of the financial benefit.

As traditional landline telephone businesses have been waning, telephone companies have focused on wireless and data services as new sources of growth.

AT&T and other major telephone companies also have been upgrading their networks to offer subscription-television services to thwart competition from cable TV operators, which are offering phone services. AT&T in January began offering video in Texas and plans to expand service to 21 cities in its home territory this year.

DEAL TO FACE REGULATORY SCRUTINY

Any deal would require approval from antitrust authorities as well as the Federal Communications Commission.

“The deal is likely to be approved,” said Blair Levin, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus and a former Federal Communications Commission chief of staff. “The government has already given us a road map and it had very few speedbumps and much less brick walls for this kind of transaction.”

He said the government would likely seek similar conditions to this transaction that were placed on the AT&T-SBC deal, which included providing competitors access to some buildings, some price controls, and ensuring customers have unfettered access to the Internet.

Government approval for “this one should be a little bit faster,” Levin said. It took the FCC approximately eight months to review the AT&T-SBC deal.

WHITACRE’S LATEST DEAL

For Edward Whitacre, chairman and chief executive of the new AT&T, a deal would be the latest of a long line of bold acquisitions.

At SBC, Whitacre had acquired regional Baby Bell companies Pacific Telesis and Ameritech Corp. He also helped orchestrate the $41 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless by Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier.

While at SBC, Whitacre previously had weighed buying BellSouth, but shifted to the purchase of AT&T, sources familiar with the situation had said.

PHILADELPHIA/WASHINGTON (Reuters)—AT&T Inc. said on Sunday it would buy BellSouth Corp. for $67 billion to expand its reach into the southeastern United States and acquire the rest of Cingular Wireless it does not already own.

Together, AT&T and BellSouth would have a national long-distance telephone and data network, residential customers stretching from Florida to California and business customers comprising more than half of the Fortune 1000, analysts have said.

BellSouth shareholders will receive 1.325 shares of AT&T common stock for each common share of BellSouth. Based on AT&T’s closing stock price on March 3, that equals $37.09 per BellSouth common share, a 17.9-percent premium.

The new AT&T, which was formed in November when SBC Communications Inc. completed its acquisition of AT&T Corp., also said it would repurchase at least $10 billion of its common shares over the next 22 months.

The companies have a combined market capitalization of $165 billion and annual revenue of about $64 billion. The next largest telephone company, Verizon Communications, which bought MCI Inc. last year, has a market capitalization of $99 billion and 2005 annual revenues of about $75 billion.

The deal would bring ownership of Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless telephone company, under one roof, which Wall Street analysts have said would streamline management and allow one parent company to enjoy all of the financial benefits.

AT&T currently owns 60 percent of Cingular, while BellSouth owns the remaining 40 percent. Despite its heft, Cingular has been losing marketshare of the most lucrative, post-paid customers to its main rival, Verizon Wireless.

At the completion of the deal, which is expected to close within a year, all the landline and wireless businesses will exist under the sole brand name of AT&T, the companies said.

A purchase of BellSouth would recombine the former “Ma Bell” with four of the seven original Baby Bells regional telephone companies. AT&T was broken up in 1984, with the parent controlling the long-distance assets and its seven offspring controlling regional local telephone services.

As traditional landline phone businesses have been hurt by a shift to e-mail and wireless phones, telephone carriers have shifted their focus to faster growing businesses such as wireless and data services.

AT&T and other major telephone companies also have been upgrading their networks to offer subscription-television services to thwart competition from cable TV operators, which are offering phone services. AT&T in January began offering video in Texas and plans to expand service to 21 cities in its home territory this year.

DEAL TO FACE REGULATORY SCRUTINY

A merged AT&T-BellSouth would be trailed by Verizon Communications, which last year bought MCI Inc. Qwest Communications International Inc., the final remaining Baby Bell, covers Minnesota to Washington state.

Any deal would require approval from antitrust authorities as well as the Federal Communications Commission, but analysts said they doubted there would be significant opposition.

“The deal is likely to be approved,” said Blair Levin, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus and a former Federal Communications Commission chief of staff. “The government has already given us a road map and it had very few speedbumps and much less brick walls for this kind of transaction.”

He said the government would likely seek similar conditions on this transaction that were placed on the AT&T-SBC deal, which included some price controls, as well as providing competitors access to some buildings and ensuring customers have unfettered access to the Internet.

The deal’s price tag will likely weigh on AT&T’s stock price, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Chris King said. Still, he doubts that any AT&T shareholder would be big enough on its own to stop the deal.

AT&T expects the deal will be neutral to earnings per share in 2007, and boost earnings per share, excluding merger costs and other items, thereafter.

Cost-savings are expected to top $2 billion in the second year after closing the deal, and total nearly $18 billion, AT&T said. The savings will come from an undisclosed amount of work force cuts, lower advertising expenses and cheaper operating costs as the companies merge operations to one network.

WHITACRE’S LATEST DEAL

For Edward Whitacre, chairman and chief executive of the new AT&T, a deal would be the latest of a long line of bold acquisitions.

At SBC, Whitacre had acquired regional Baby Bell companies Pacific Telesis and Ameritech Corp. He also helped orchestrate the $41 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless by Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier.

While at SBC, Whitacre previously had weighed buying BellSouth, but shifted to the purchase of AT&T, sources familiar with the situation had said. In the past, BellSouth had also flirted with the idea of buying AT&T.

Whitacre, who was expected to retire around the end of this year, was asked to stay until March 2008, AT&T said. He will serve as chairman of the combined companies, while BellSouth Chairman Duane Ackerman will head BellSouth operations for a transition period following the merger, the companies said.

The MIT-backed startup behind SiteAdvisor has slapped a red “X” warning label on approximately 5 percent of all Web traffic and warned that there are roughly one billion monthly visits to Web pages that aren’t safe for surfing. About 2 percent of all Web traffic was given the “yellow” caution rating.” A more general SiteAdvisor blog entry overview was covered earlier on Slashdot.

Microsoft said it will soon offer a search engine that is better, faster and more curious than previous versions.

The beta version debuts at Microsoft’s www.Live.com on March 8. The beta, and a revision expected in a few months, will challenge market leader Google, said Microsoft Search Senior Product Manager Justin Osmer.

Microsoft also expects to soon release an updated version of Live.com and a Windows Live Toolbar beta on March 8.

The Live.com search engine has high expectations, and arrives at a time when search market leader Google appears to be vulnerable to challenges after several financial hiccups as the Internet search market continues to grow rapidly.

Also, at a recent public appearance, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates promised a search engine from Microsoft that “more than matches” Google’s.

“To say we’ll get to overall number one in a few months is a bit bold,” Microsoft Search’s Osmer said during an interview. “But, maybe we’ll be number one in some market metrics.”

Osmer said local search and relevancy, a measure of the sharpness of a search engine’s results, are areas Microsoft could soon lead

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PHILADELPHIA (Reuters)—With its $65 billion agreement to buy BellSouth Corp., AT&T Inc. faces one of the biggest challenges in its history: integrating two stodgy telephone companies with the nation’s largest wireless company and making good on $18 billion in promised cost savings.

Although the deal had been widely expected, the timing was a surprise to Wall Street, coming just three months after SBC Communications completed its purchase of AT&T Corp. to form the “new” AT&T Inc.

Together, AT&T and BellSouth would have a national long-distance telephone and data network, residential customers in 22 states and business customers comprising more than half of the Fortune 1000.

The deal also would bring Cingular Wireless, a joint venture of AT&T and BellSouth, under the control of one company and one brand. Cingular had acquired AT&T Wireless in 2004 to become the largest U.S. wireless company.

“The key risk is that there is simply too much to accomplish at the same time that competitive and technological pressures reach new levels,” said Morgan Stanley analyst Simon Flannery said.

AT&T expects to squeeze $18 billion in synergies out of the deal by eliminating 10,000 workers, integrating telephone networks and technology systems, reducing advertising expenses by having only one brand name, and gaining pricing leverage with vendors.

Some analysts fear that AT&T may be tackling too much, too fast.

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