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St. Louis Business & Technology News
www.slfp.com/SLFPBIZp.htm "When you think Saint Louis, think Saint Louis Front Page," a weekly publication covering the news and events in the greater St. Louis area. 
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AOL Time Warner, AT&T And Comcast Agree to Restructure Partnership NEW YORK, (BUSINESS WIRE) August 21, 2002 - AT&T and Comcast Corporation have announced that they have reached agreement with AOL Time Warner to restructure the Time Warner Entertainment (TWE) partnership in a way that allows for the orderly and timely sale of AT&T's stake. "This agreement will turn a non-strategic investment into cash that we can use to pay down debt," said C. Michael Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of AT&T. "That has been the goal since we acquired our stake in Time Warner Entertainment and I'm delighted we were able to accomplish it on favorable terms for everyone involved." Under the agreement, for its 27.64 percent stake in TWE, AT&T. Broadband will receive $2.1 billion in cash, $1.5 billion in common stock of AOL Time Warner Inc., valued as of the time of closing, and a 21 percent equity interest (with less than 5 percent voting power in the election of directors) in a new cable company serving about 10.8 million subscribers. The new company, to be called Time Warner Cable Inc., will be formed from TWE's existing cable properties and additional cable properties to be contributed by AOL Time Warner. AOL Time Warner will assume complete ownership of TWE's major content assets, which include Home Box Office (HBO), Warner Bros. and stakes in Comedy Central, Court TV and The WB Network. Additionally, AT&T Broadband and Comcast have reached a three-year non-exclusive agreement with AOL Time Warner under which AOL High-Speed Broadband service would be made available on AT&T Comcast cable systems, which pass about 10 million homes. While confidential, financial terms of the agreement are comparable to other recent broadband carriage agreements reached by Comcast and AT&T Broadband.  Cingular Cuts Workforce in Reorganization ATLANTA, (SLFP.com) August 20, 2002 - Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth, announced a reorganization of its workforce resulting in a reduction of approximately 2,500 to 3,000 positions. It is anticipated that more than one third of the reductions will be accomplished through the elimination of temporary positions and normal attrition of regular employees. "Cingular was formed two years ago from eleven different brands," said Stephen Carter, President and CEO of Cingular. "In that time, we have learned how we can operate more efficiently and more effectively. Cingular is one of the few profitable major wireless companies in the United States, and we are making these moves to position the company for continued profitable growth." The first department at Cingular to announce its reorganization plans is sales operations. The change shifts the company from its previous geographic focus to a channel-based effort aimed at natural sales groupings - business to business, national retail operations, and agent and company-owned retail stores. The move will make the company more responsive to the market, and will bring significant operating efficiencies to the nation's second largest wireless carrier. "Our new sales structure puts us closer to the customer, enables a quicker response to customer needs and does it at a lower cost," said Bob Shaner, president of Cingular's wireless operations. "The goal is to continue to provide customers the best value and service by creating the most efficient organization in the industry." Cingular will also reduce the number of employees in other departments including marketing, network, finance and human resources. Details of those plans will be provided to employees later this autumn. The cuts will be spread throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, and not concentrated in one specific geographic region. Force reductions involving employees covered by collective bargaining agreements will be handled in accordance with the current working agreement with the Communications Workers of America. Cingular serves more than 22 million voice and data customers across the United States.
ST. LOUIS, (Newstream) August 20, 2002 - When summer vacation is a remote destination, many travelers wonder whether their mobile phone will keep them connected-or leave them hanging. But a new class of mobile phones, the s46 from Siemens, is designed to keep users connected with the same phone number across four continents. It's GSM technology that powers this new mobile phone to send and receive calls worldwide. ("GSM" stands for Global System for Mobile communications, the international digital radio standard.) In many major US cities and the UK, the s46 can also access the Internet-a boon to travelers checking flight schedules and weather. And these days, with security concerns both on the ground and in the air, a mobile phone with global reach is peace of mind for many families. West Port Plaza to Provide Ultra-fast Internet Access for Its Tenants ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), August 19, 2002 - West Port Plaza, one of St. Louis' premier business addresses, has become one of its most technologically advanced as well by providing its commercial tenants access to a fiber optic network for their voice, data communications, and high-speed Internet services. Most other office buildings in the area still rely on traditional copper telephone lines for their communications needs. West Port Plaza connected four office buildings and the retail mall to a fiber optic network operated by St. Louis-based Digital Teleport Inc., which owns one of the region's largest fiber optic networks. Tenants in the complex can now take advantage of a variety of fiber optic based services such as ultra high-speed Internet access and data transport. "Broadband access is quickly becoming as vital as electricity to businesses today - they can't operate without it," said Julie Raynolds, property manager for Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, which manages West Port Plaza for owner Archon Properties. "An increasing number of our tenants need faster and more cost-effective data access to remain competitive in their industries. We are lowering the hurdle bar for many of them. "By providing our tenants access to fiber optic based services, we give them a way of getting computer connection speeds many times faster than traditional T-1 lines for about the same cost," Raynolds said. "Staying abreast of leading-edge technology allows us to attract and retain tenants." Digital Teleport provides wholesale fiber optic transport services in secondary and tertiary Midwest markets to national and regional communications carriers. The company's network spans 5,700 route miles across Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Guarantee Electrical Company Provides Electrical Systems for Magellan Health Services Campus ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), August 19, 2002 - Guarantee Electrical Company is providing electrical design-build services for the shell, core and interior finish of Magellan Health Services, Inc.'s new $31 million campus in Maryland Heights, Mo. Located in TRiSTAR Business Communities' Riverport Commons development off Interstate 70, the 238,000-square-foot corporate facility will house Magellan's national service center operations. Guarantee is completing nearly $5 million of electrical work at Magellan on a fast-track schedule. Guarantee began work at the site in March and is scheduled to complete electrical systems in time for a December 15 move-in by Magellan. Clayco Construction Company is the design-builder on the project. The three-story facility will consist of two wings connected by a central lobby with a two-story atrium. Guarantee is providing power service to each wing, site lighting and distribution for the shell and core. The tenant finish includes installing conduits, teledata rough-ins and power connections for 1,900 workstations in Magellan's call center. Guarantee will also provide power for a full-service cafeteria and kitchen and an exercise facility with locker rooms. "Our exemplary safety record is bringing added value to this project," said Andy Goldkamp, Guarantee's health care project manager. The St. Louis expansion will bring an additional 500 jobs to the metro area and retain 1,500 jobs. Headquartered in Columbia, Md., Magellan serves approximately 70 million individuals nationwide and over 3,000 client organizations representing health plans, government agencies, unions and corporations. St. Louis-based Monsanto is the company's longest standing customer, having been served for more than 23 years by Magellan and its predecessor organizations. Best Brands Selects SAVVIS for IP Network ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), August 19, 2002 - SAVVIS Communications has announced that it will be providing managed IP VPN service for Best Brands Corp., a full-service manufacturer/distributor to the baking industry. SAVVIS' managed IP VPN services will be implemented to support a broad range of Best Brands' applications including secure data transfers, file sharing, corporate intranet, invoicing/accounting, e-mail, and videoconferencing. In addition, remotely located Best Brand executives will have access to the company's private network via secure dial-in accounts. "Previously, Best Brands had used a major interexchange carrier for its network service, but was unsatisfied and ended the relationship. We were disappointed with our previous carrier's inability to effectively step up to managing our services end-to-end, including the critical last mile," said Mark Bratvold, IS Manager, Best Brands Corp. "As our business grew, it became increasingly important to insure availability of key business apps such as invoicing, accounting, and videoconferencing. Research for a new provider revealed that SAVVIS' unique approach to IP VPNs was the managed solution that delivered the availability and scalability we required at a price lower than all competitive offerings. "Best Brands is an important win for SAVVIS," said Jim Mori, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Americas, for SAVVIS. "They're a company that has grown into one of the largest bakery product suppliers in the country, and their name has become synonymous with quality and reliability. Their story is representative of a growing a segment of mid-sized businesses seeking a best-in-class managed network service that is backed by superior SLAs. When a high volume of mission-critical data is exchanged, network performance can't be compromised." Return to St. Louis Front Page 
The Saint Louis Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group . |
 
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