AT&T; Seeking Pacts With Cable Firms for Phone, Net Services

AT&T; Corp. said it is talking to several cable television companies about alliances, which could help it offer local telephone and high-speed Internet access.

Cable companies are spending billions to upgrade their systems to handle phone and other services. AT&T; Chief Financial Officer Daniel Somers said the long-distance telephone company won’t help pay for such improvements.

Telephone, cable and technology companies such as Microsoft Corp. have been meeting for months in an effort to shape the next generation of cable, Internet and phone services. Cable industry leader Tele-Communications Inc., for one, said Thursday that it will take on a partner to help with its telephone effort.

“We have developed a good relationship with the cable companies,” Somers said at the Bloomberg Telecommunications Conference. “We are talking to a number of them.”

Somers would not name the companies or expand on what the alliances would involve.

Somers’ comments suggest that AT&T; wants to lend its marketing expertise and brand name to help promote products such as telephone service via the Internet, using cable’s high-speed data capability, analysts said.

Partnerships could provide a way for AT&T; to offer local phone service through cable lines, allowing it to bypass the Baby Bells and break into the $100-billion-a-year market.