Cingular to buy AT&T Wireless
BY HARRY R. WEBER
THE ASSOCIATED I’ll ESS
ATLANTA — Cingular Wireless,
the nation's No. 2 mobile phone
provider, won the bidding war to
acquire third-largest AT&T
Wireless for nearly $41 billion, a
deal that could create the nation's
largest cell phone company.
The merger was announced
Tuesday as Britain's Vodafone
Group PLC withdrew from the
four-day bidding contest.
“This combination is expected
to create customer benefits and
growth prospects neither compa
ny could have achieved on it#
own and will mean better cover
age, improved reliability, en
hanced call quality and a wide ar
ray of new and innovative ser
vices," said Stan Sigman, presi
dent and chief executive of
Atlanta-based Cingular.
Cingular, a joint venture be
tween SBC Communications Inc.
and BellSouth Corp., said its win
ning bid was for $15 per share in
cash, an amount that would val
ue AT&T Wireless at $40.7 billion.
Cingular will also assume $6 bil
lion of debt owed by AT&T
Wireless.
The agreement, subject to the
approval of AT&T Wireless share
holders and regulatory authori
ties, may be the largest all-cash
buyout in U.S. history, said David
Caouette, spokesman for AT&T
Wireless.
In addition to paying AT&T
Wireless shareholders a 27 per
cent premium over the company's
closing stock price of $11.82 on
Friday, the merger may ease the
cutthroat competition in the U.S.
cellular market, trimming the
number of national players from
six to five.
Cingular and AT&T Wireless
have 46 million subscribers,
enough to leapfrog Verizon
Wireless' market leading cus
tomer base of 37.5 million.
The combined company will
carry the Cingular name, and
billing and other operational func
. tions will be merged, but there
will be no immediate impact on
customers, said Ralph de la Vega,
Cingular's chief operating officer.
“When these companies com
bine, one of the biggest benefits
for customers is well have broad
er geographic coverage. This
combination reduces roaming
significantly," de la Vega said.
According to de la Vega, there
could be some jobs cuts or man
agement changes, but would not
elaborate. The combined compa
ny would have about 70,000 em
ployees. AT&T Wireless had al
ready planned to cut 1,900 jobs
from a work force of 31,000 by the
end of 2005.
The deal brought to an end a
heated bidding war that saw both
companies boosting their offers
following a Friday deadline to
submit bid set by AT&T Wireless.
Cingular, which had 23.4 mil
lion customers late last year,
opened its bidding at $13 a share,
or $35 billion, two sources told
The Associated Press on condi
tion of anonymity. It then raised
its offer to $14 a share early
Monday.
AT&T Wireless' share price
has risen steadily in recent weeks
on news that it was putting itself
on the auction block.
The carrier, based in
Redmond, Wash., has more than
22 million subscribers, including
a sizable base of corporate clients
who tend to use more services
and spend more money.
Phoenix bishop convicted of hit-and-run
BY MICHELLE RUSHLO
THE ASSOCIATED I'KESS
PHOENIX — Bishop Thomas
O'Brien was convicted of hit-and
run Tuesday for leaving the scene
after killing a jaywalking pedes
trian with his car, a crash that
ended his career as head of the
Roman Catholic diocese.
O'Brien is believed to be the first
Roman Catholic bishop in U.S. his
tory to be convicted of a felony.
The 68-year-old bishop, who •
said he thought he hit a dog or
was struck by a rock, could be
sentenced to anywhere from pro
bation to 3 3/4 years in prison on
the charge of leaving the scene of
an accident.
O'Brien showed no emotion af
ter the verdict was read. He and
his attorney left the courtroom
without comment.
“It's a sad day," said Monsignor
Dale Fushek, the diocese's co
vicar general and a friend of
O'Brien. “It's the kind of situation
where nobody wins. We respect
the work the jury did, and now we
just pray everyone heals."
O'Brien led the Phoenix dioce
se's nearly 480,000 Catholics for 21
years but stepped down in June
after he was charged in the crash.
The resignation came after two
weeks of turmoil following an an
nouncement by prosecutors that
they had reached an immunity
deal with O'Brien that would
spare him indictment on obstruc
tibn charges for protecting priests
accused of child molestation.
The chief facts surrounding
the accident that killed pedestri
an Jim Reed, 43, were not in dis
pute.
Reed was drunk and jaywalk
ing on the night of June 14 when
O'Brien hit him on his way home
from celebrating Mass, leaving a
giant spider-web crack in the
windshield and Reed lying in the
street. O'Brien then drove the two
miles back to his house and
parked the Buick in his garage.
The bishop, who testified for
most of two days in the trial, said
he heard a loud crash but never
saw anyone in the road, and the de
fense contended that dim lighting,
headlight glare and the victim's
dark clothes made him hard to see.
Had he seen the pedestrian,
O'Brien testified, “I would have
stopped because that's the human
thing to do. I couldn't imagine not
stopping."
But prosecutors argued that
O'Brien knew or should have
known he hit a person. They
pointed to the fact that O'Brien
did not call police even after a of
ficial in the diocese told him the
car may have been involved in a
deadly accident.
They also noted that he tried
to get the windshield repaired,
even knowing police were look
ing for the car. Detectives tracked
O'Brien down at his home two
days after the accident.
Authorities have said O'Brien
would not have been charged
with a crime if he had stopped
and helped or, at the very least,
waited for police to arrive.
Jurors deliberated about 41/2
hours Friday and an additional
two hours Tuesday before reach
ing their verdict. The case was
initially given to the jury on
Thursday, but deliberations had
to start anew on Friday after one
of the original jurors was dis
missed and an alternate was sub
stituted.
No sentencing date has been
set.
The accident and O'Brien's
abrupt resignation came just as
it appeared he would survive as
head of the diocese following a
sex-abuse investigation.
---—--j-—--)-I-1
www. dailygamecock. com
PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Bush shares a laugh with NASCAR driver Bill Elliot, left, during
a visit to Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.
Bush ducks questions
about military duties
while meeting troops
BY TERENCE HUNT
Till; ASSOCIATE m\ss
FORT POLK, LA. — Snapping a
sharp salute before cheering sol
diers, President Bush put his cre
dentials as wartime commander
in chief on display Tuesday
against suggestions he ducked his
military duty as a child of privi
lege during the Vietnam War.
Cheers of “USA, USA” and en
thusiastic applause greeted Bush
as he took an outdoor stage at this
military base that has trained and
deployed more than 10,000 troops
to Iraq and Afghanistan since
America was struck by the terror
ist attacks on Sept. 11,2001.
“My resolve is the same as it
was on the day when I walked in
the rubble of the twin towers,"
Bush said. “I will not relent until
this threat to America is removed.
And neither will you."
Bush's appearance provided a
TV-ready opportunity to empha
size his national security respon
sibilities and leadership of the war
against terror, a role the White
House wants to emphasize as he
heads into a re-election battle.
While officials said the visit had
been planned for several weeks, it
put Bush in a friendly military set
ting after a bruising week of alle
gations that put him on the defen
sive.
Democrats have questioned
Bush's stint in the Texas Air
National Guard—how he managed
to get in and whether he fulfilled his
obligations — at the height of the
Vietnam War. The Democrats also
have contrasted Bush's stay-at-home
duty with the combat-decorated
record of Sen. John Kerry, the front
runner for the Democratic presi
dential nomination. Under pressure,
the White House released Bush’s mil
itary records last Friday, but there
was nothing new to document that
Bush showed up for service in
Alabama when Democrats have sug
gested he was AWOL, or missing.
Bush did not mention the sub
ject Tuesday as he was surround
ed by soldiers.
It also was his first appearance
on a military base since former
chief weapons inspector David
Kay concluded that Iraq did not
have weapons of mass destruction,
as Bush had alleged.
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