AT&T; to Pay $500,000 to End Billing Probe

AT&T; Corp. agreed to pay $500,000 to end a federal investigation into claims the company billed customers who didn’t order service.

The Federal Communications Commission was investigating whether Bedminster, N.J.-based AT&T; erroneously charged $3.95 a month to 1.27 million consumers this year, the agency said in legal papers. An AT&T; spokesman had no immediate comment.

AT&T; has said the charges were caused by a billing error and it gave refunds to customers. The firm agreed to pay $400,000 in fines to New York state related to the billing mix-up.

* SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. said the acquisition last month by their Cingular Wireless venture of AT&T; Wireless Services Inc. would increase profit a year earlier than expected.