TELECOMMUNICATIONS

AT&T; to Take Charge for Eo Closure: The nation’s largest provider of telecommunications services will take a $50- to $80-million third-quarter charge to shut the doors of its once-heralded Eo Inc. unit. Late last month, AT&T; pulled the plug on the pioneering maker of personal communicators because of an inability to raise new capital. The charges will take no more than 2 cents to 4 cents a share off the company’s earnings for the year, not enough to affect the company’s ability to meet its earnings targets, spokesman Kevin Compton said. Eo’s devices, tiny hand-held machines that combine fax, phone, pager and computer capabilities, were among the first of their kind to be introduced on the computer market, but they quickly disappointed users because the price was high and they were hard to use.