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AT&T mulls four-way split
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October 23, 2000: 2:52 p.m. ET
Telecom firm could decide to separate business, consumer units
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - AT&T will mull a plan this week to divide the telecommunications company into four separate, stand-alone businesses, according to press reports Monday.
The plan, called "Project Grand Slam," would divide the company into business, consumer long-distance, wireless and broadband businesses.
The company's biggest and most profitable unit, the Business Services department, which caters to corporate customers, would become the new AT&T and would create brand-licensing and commercial agreements with the three other businesses.
AT&T officials declined to comment on reports of the proposed plan.
The proposal was to be discussed at an AT&T board meeting Monday and, if approved, could be announced when the company releases its third-quarter earnings Wednesday. But whether the board would approve such a radical plan is uncertain, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
 Under the four-way-split proposal, AT&T's wireless and cable TV operations would become separate companies over the next one to two years. The company's more than 60 million telephone users would not feel much immediate impact from the plan, the reports said.
The four split units would be able to concentrate on their own strategies and grow more quickly than they could while confined to the larger AT&T scheme, according to the reports.
AT&T's market value has dropped by about $70 billion since January, partly because of falling prices in the long-distance industry. Its stock is trading at around half what it was a year ago.
AT&T (T: Research, Estimates) has considered numerous options in the last few months to prop up its sagging stock price, including the spin-off of its consumer long-distance business as well as possible mergers for its wireless and business services units.
Shares of AT&T rose 13 cents to $27.12 on the New York Stock Exchange Monday afternoon. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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