COMBINED AT&T/BELLSOUTH WILL CONTROL
22% CONSUMER TELECOM SPENDING, 34% BUSINESS SPENDING

Merger Announcement Further Consolidates Telecom Marketplace

JENKINTOWN, PA, March 13, 2006 – As regulators now consider the proposed AT&T/BellSouth merger, new study findings from TNS Telecoms indicate that the combined AT&T/BellSouth will control 22% of all consumer dollars spent on telecom services (including video services) and 34% of dollars spent in the business market. These numbers grow even higher when examining the wired line phone market, with the combined entity representing 37% of consumer spending on wired line phone service.

“It is clear from these results that the telecom marketplace is quickly becoming a market of a few large national players with several other providers sharing the remaining market,” remarked Charles White, Senior Vice President of TNS Telecoms. “The recently completed and announced industry mergers demonstrate that the battlefields in the telecom market will be in wireless and video services.”

Results from TNS Telecom’s quarterly study include a 2% decline in the average amount per household spent on wired line telephone service from the previous quarter to $43.35 per month. During the same period the average amount spent on wireless per household increased 3% to $57.34 and the amount spent on video service increased 1% to $47.72. Thus, of the total amount spent on telecom services, wireless spending represents 34% of that total with video services representing 28%, the two largest categories of consumer spending on telecom.

With an approval of the AT&T/BellSouth merger the top three providers (AT&T, Verizon and Comcast) will control 49% of the total consumer market and in the business market AT&T and Verizon will represent 55% of spending. While the industry consolidation is obvious at the national level, consumer competition in most areas of the United States may intensify between the area’s incumbent local phone and cable providers.

Telecom Industry Market Share – Fourth Quarter 2005

About the Research

TNS Telecoms collects responses through its Bill Harvesting® database from 32,000 U.S. households that provide their complete set of telecommunications bills, promotional bill inserts and telecom direct mail communications each year. In the business market, TNS Telecoms' BusinessWave® research gathers telecom behavior information from small, medium and large businesses across the U.S. Together this syndicated information provides a number of product offerings including databases, TNS reports and online applications allowing national, state, city and micro level analysis across the U.S.

About TNS Telecoms

TNS Telecoms, the specialist telecoms division of TNS, is a global provider of strategic and tactical market information and analysis for telecom service providers and the entire telecommunications industry. Its range of syndicated research solutions and custom capabilities allows TNS Telecoms to meet the changing market information challenges of telecom-related businesses. For more information please go to www.tnstelecoms.com.

About TNS

TNS is a market information group:

• The world’s largest provider of custom research and analysis
• A leader in political and social polling
• A major supplier of consumer panel, media intelligence and TV and radio audience measurement services

TNS operates across a global network in over 70 countries, allowing us to provide internationally consistent, up-to-the-minute and high quality information and analysis.

The group’s employees deliver innovative thinking and excellent service to local and multi-national clients worldwide. In the custom business, they combine in-depth sector knowledge with expertise in the areas of new product development, positioning and segmentation research, brand and advertising research and stakeholder management.

We combine our specialist sector knowledge with expertise in the areas of new product development, motivational research, brand and advertising research and stakeholder management to bring our clients up-to-the minute, internationally consistent information.

TNS’s strategic goal is to be recognized as the global leader in delivering value added information and insights that help our clients to make more effective decisions.

TNS is the sixth sense of business™.

Further information on TNS can be found on www.tnsglobal.com

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Editor’s Note: Please source all data and tables as “Source: TNS Telecoms.”
First Quarter 2006 Tracking Metrics will be available in June 2006.
Bill Harvesting and BusinessWave are registered trademarks of TNS Telecoms

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