AT&T has officially announced its intentions of buying BellSouth for $67 billions becoming this way a bigger competitor for Verizon Communications.

If AT&T was acquired last year for the total amount of $16 billion by SBC Communications which changed its name into the widely know AT&T, this year it makes a move again buying BellSouth, the third local phone company in the United States. AT&T served so far 13 states in U.S. but along with BellSouth it will reach the total amount of 22 states.
There is also the question of Cingular Wireless which is considered to be the largest cellular phone company in the U.S. and which is owned in a partnership by AT&T and BellSouth. If so far, AT&T owned 60 percent of Cingular as a result of the above mentioned acquisition, Cingular will be completely owned by AT&T.
Consumers fear not having where to choose from and not getting the best deals possible as the market is very much divided between AT&T and Verizon. Regulators have not brought this argument into discussion so far because of the cable operators which also offer phone services. Yet, lately the two large phone operators have looked into and spent a great deal of money trying to upgrade their networks in order to offer television service. Actually, Verizion, which is the second largest phone company in the U.S., is already offering TV service to consumers in several states like Texas, Virginia or Florida. AT&T is also testing its television service in Texas planning to offer it at a wider scale later this year.
AT&T’s decision to buy BellSouth puts the market on the move. Verizon was forced by SBC’s acquisition of AT&T last year, to buy MCI (the fourth largest local phone service provider) for $8.44 billion. With AT&T’s full ownership of Cingular Communications, Verizon is forced to make its move on the wireless market. As Verizon Wirelss is jointly owned by Verizon and the European company Vodafone, Verizon’s CEO has already made public its intentions of buying the 45 percent stake out from Vodafone.
The merger is set out to be closed within 12 months as it is expecting the green light from share holders of both companies and authority regulators.