TELECOMMUNICATIONS

AT&T; Files to Offer Local Services in Additional States: The company, moving toward its goal of becoming a national provider of local telephone services, filed a slew of requests with state regulatory officials nationwide. It said it filed petitions in at least 10 states. AT&T; Corp. began its foray into local telephone services immediately after the Telecommunications Reform Act took effect Feb. 8. It has said it plans to take steps toward providing local phone services in all 50 states. Analysts said the company is showing that it wants once again to be a soup-to-nuts telecom purveyor, as it was for nearly a century before it was broken up in 1984. AT&T; shares dropped 37.5 cents to $63.625 on the NYSE.