A New Buy For Income & Growth

Article Excerpt

Deregulation and the Internet have made it easier for cable companies and start-up firms to offer basic telephone service, usually for a fraction of what traditional telephone utilities charge. This new wave of competition has forced many telephone companies to spend huge sums upgrading their networks to handle a variety of new services, which they hope will help them hang on to their current customers and attract new ones. But many phone companies lack the cash flow to fund these costs. They also risk alienating their traditional stockholders, many of whom rely on their dividends for income. That’s why several big phone companies have merged in the past few years. A good example of this trend is the new AT&T. Its bigger size gives it the resources it needs to compete, while letting it maintain its traditional appeal as a high yield utility stock. AT&T INC. $30 (New York symbol T; Income Portfolio, Utilities sector; WSSF Rating: Average) is the largest telecommunications company in…