AT&T's new chief says company will invest if legislators act

'Tennessee is surrounded' by states that have won AT&T capital, says new AT&T Tennessee president

Email | Print By Milt Capps

Gregg Morton

Newly installed AT&T Tennessee President Gregg Morton told NashvillePost.com yesterday that if the General Assembly passes video-franchise reform next year, he'll quickly ask parent AT&T for more than $250 million in capital investment for the launch of AT&T video services in Tennessee.

Morton, 50, left little doubt during an interview that, while his franchise-reform rationale may be familiar, he'll use skills he honed earlier as an AT&T-BellSouth lobbyist to hammer-home the question, "Why not Tennessee?"

Morton indicated that the core of AT&T's case is clear enough — "Tennessee is surrounded."

He explained that AT&T has committed capital to launch video services in states that have passed reform, including Georgia ($600 million), North Carolina ($350 million), South Carolina ($250 million) and, soon, Florida.

The window for AT&T investment in Tennessee is not closed, he said, adding "capital wouldn't be a constraint, based on what I know."

"This is the best issue that I've ever been associated with in my 29 years with this company. This is a wonderful issue to be on the side that we're on," he insisted.

Notwithstanding the collapse of reform debate in the General Assembly last spring, Morton professes disbelief that truly substantial arguments against reform remain, particularly given the potential economic value of broadband services.

He dismissed the cable-industry's resistance to statewide franchising as "all about delay, delay, delay." He added, "all they want to do is keep us out of the market as long as they can."

Morton argued that, in fact, by the time the Tennessee reform debate imploded in May, AT&T and its allies had agreed to support changes in legislation that would have cured fears voiced by the Tennessee Municipal League, cable-television providers and others.

The accuracy of his assessment may never be known, because debate of reform was quashed, largely by AT&T itself, in the midst of a flurry of amendments, side-deals and sheer confusion.

In any event, Morton said, "Whatever remains of [unresolved issues] we can quickly work out."

Despite his optimism, there is no sign that opposing camps are demobilizing the platoons of lobbyists they deployed for this year's battle.

Though there is no formal timeline established for launch of U-verse in Tennessee, Morton's comments suggest that if the General Assembly enacts reform in 2008, U-verse could be in operation here by 2011.

Morton acknowledged that although franchise reform was enacted in South Carolina in 2006 and modified in 2007, AT&T has not yet applied for a statewide franchise. He said AT&T will probably build-out the U-verse infrastructure in each state before applying. In South Carolina, he said, cities and counties supported franchise reform.

AT&T's new president succeeded Marty Dickens in the job, this week. Morton, who earned a bachelor's degree in the Clemson University College of Business and Behavioral Science in 1978, is currently scouting for a home in Middle Tennessee for himself and wife Cathy. The Mortons are natives of South Carolina's Aiken and Orangeburg, respectively. They have two adult children.