Michael Armstrong Quotations

We're getting the fat out of the company,

We're putting the best brand in communications with the best broadband infrastructure in America,

We set out to transform this company from a point-to-point long-distance company. The results today are strong. They need to be better, and they will be. But it's now time to recognize the value creation phase of our strategy.

Maybe when we go salmon fishing we'll know more about that, ... They're one of our business customers; it's a big business.

Further, the board is concerned that Comcast's multi-tier voting structure would put AT&T shareowners at a disadvantage in matters of corporate governance,

Japan has one of the largest concentrations of multinational companies in the world. It's an extraordinary growth opportunity for all three companies and it is essential that the global venture have a strong distributor in this key market.

Our results reflect a business managing through a difficult economic and industry-wide climate, ... In the face of these pressures, we remain focused on controlling costs and growing revenue in our growth businesses.

Our business, along with others in the industry, continues to feel the impact of declines in long-distance voice revenue,

The acquisitions and investments we've made over the last year will transform AT&T from a company dominated by a single product line -- long-distance voice - into the leader in a new generation of advanced communications, information and video services.

The ancient Romans had a tradition: whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch, as the capstone was hoisted into place, the engineer assumed accountability for his work in the most profound way possible: he stood under the arch.

We know of no objections or issues at the FCC, so we believe that removes any last doubt there is,

We're comfortable that if the Time Warner partnership is not attributable to AT&T that we can fit under the 30 percent cap,

The deal gives us reach to some 283 countries, ... It also gives us a facilities-based strategy to provide universal service to our customers.

While our total revenue reflects the impact of the industry-wide decline in long-distance voice, we are growing revenue in Business Data and IP services and our Broadband business by nearly 14 percent,

While we did not make this decision lightly, we believe it is necessary and in the best long-term interests of our shareowners to adopt a dividend policy comparable to the policies of our competitors,

We've had some starts and some stops with America Online. The way a network operator like we make money is with network traffic ... we just haven't been able to get together.

We've had some starts and some stops with America Online, ... The way a network operator like we make money is with network traffic ... we just haven't been able to get together.

What today's announcement means is a mutual commitment to make this work,

Borders all over the world are coming down, and as they come down opportunities spring up, ... Companies reach further to compete with their products and services, and when they want to open shop, wherever they want to open shop, they want those communications services to support their people and their products, and we've got to be there.

Bell Atlantic has not even come close to meeting performance levels required by the Telecom Act, ... Our brand is damaged each and every time they fail to provide our customers with service or features in a timely manner. We also suffer direct financial harm from lost revenues and costly re-works.

During the quarter, we maintained our focus on managing costs, increasing revenue in our growth businesses, and improving customer satisfaction,

It would seem to favor the community colleges, to the detriment of students who would prefer to attend a university. Some kids are better served at community colleges, and some kids are better served at universities. That decision should be based on academic reasons, not economic reasons.

Our shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in support of the AT&T and TCI merger and the benefits it will bring, ... The merger is the key to making AT&T the 'any distance' company we need to be and our customers want us to be.

Despite the departments' conditions, we are very pleased with the outcome.

Are we just moving boxes around or are we fundamentally changing the way the nation does business? It's too soon to tell. But there's a lot of good work over the past several years and decades that doesn't need to be negated.

are not in the consumer's interest and should be denied.

As borders around the world are coming down, as societies emerge to participate in world economic order, they must have a competitive infrastructure in which to compete,

As lead arrangers, they have also advised us that they are highly confident of their ability to raise financing for the balance of the cash portion of our offer,

That's where I see the real value. There are lots of mobile technologies out there that can work to our benefit.

This deal will match each company's strength with the other company's business needs,

This agreement will turn a non-strategic investment into cash that we can use to pay down debt,

Americans have been waiting for someone to run another wire to their homes to give them a choice in local phone service and deliver the advanced services they expect in a competitive market,

This merger will mean a real choice and lower prices in local phone service, faster Internet access and better cable TV,

There seems to be a lot of fun in reporting that this is a reversal of our strategy,

AT&T's strong second-quarter earnings reflect steady progress in executing our strategy. In fact, two of our growth businesses, AT&T Wireless and AT&T Solutions, grew revenue more than 40 percent each.

AT&T Broadband and Comcast can accomplish more together than we could alone,

It's not quite as simple as putting up some access points and turning them on. The biggest decision is the business model. How do you make this work successfully?

For Hughes Aircraft to remain competitive in a shrinking market, there was a need to increase its participation in the industry consolidation. Raytheon together with Hughes will create a much more competitive company.

David is uniquely qualified to head our new business, ... He has experience in launching successful start-ups, and in running multi-billion dollar businesses, just what we need to head a global venture that, on day one, will be a $10 billion company.

That's not where we want it and there's much more to be done to achieve more growth.

The aggregate payout will be reduced, ... Cash flow will not go to dividends but into growth...the dividend payment will be appropriate to the companies' peers in the industries that they compete in.

It's amazing how complicated this industry can make saying 'Hello,' ... actually will save consumers money because it's simple, it's any day and all day, it's straightforward.

In 2000, the industry felt the impact of the long-distance decline we anticipated when we put our new strategy in place three years ago, ... Our results reflect the acceleration of that decline, but also clearly demonstrate that we are successfully scaling our growth businesses.

By highlighting the exceptional performance of AT&T's fast-growing wireless operations, we are confident that investors will see the value of this business, ... That unlocked value, which will be reflected in the tracking stock, will provide us with the currency to take advantage of the outstanding growth opportunities available in the wireless industry, including fixed wireless, wireless data and international expansion.

I couldn't figure out where decisions got made at AT&T. This place was impossible.

For the fourth quarter in a row, AT&T delivered strong earnings and met investors' expectations, ... We took aggressive action in 1998 to strategically reposition AT&T for the future. We will continue to build on that momentum this year, focusing on reducing costs, building top line revenues and investing to grow.

These joint ventures bring us another step closer to our goal of giving U.S. consumers a choice in local phone service.