AT&T; Offers New Long-Distance Plan

AT&T; Corp., trying to reverse a slide in consumer long-distance phone sales, said it will sell long-distance calling in the U.S. for $19.95 a month when customers call other AT&T; residential subscribers for any number of minutes.

All other U.S. long-distance calls will be billed at 7 cents a minute, AT&T; said. The New York-based company said it will offer the service, AT&T; Unlimited, to its 50 million long-distance subscribers.

AT&T;, the largest U.S. long-distance carrier, and its rivals face lower sales as calling prices fall as low as 2 cents a minute as new companies enter the market and consumers turn to e-mail.

Representatives for WorldCom Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Sprint Corp. said the AT&T; plan would have little or no effect on their operations.

Shares of AT&T; fell 67 cents to $15.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.