Texas telecom titan SBC Communications, with some 31 million access lines, will base all Internet operations in San Francisco as part of efforts to capitalize on its acquisition of Pacific Bell. In May, Pac Bell became the first Baby Bell to reach 100,000 dialup Internet subscribers.
"It's a logical choice given our acquisition and all the traffic that goes through California," SBC spokesman Selim Bingol said Friday. "These are just good fits."
SBC also plans to relocate all its international, long-distance, and administrative services subsidiaries to the Bay Area, which would be a practical move in light of the company's quiet efforts to piece back together the Bell network in western states. Along with Pacific Bell, SBC owns Southwestern Bell and Nevada Bell.
The San Antonio, Texas-based company, with 1996 revenues of US$23.5 billion, offers the full range of telephone services, plus paging, Net access, and cable TV. SBC claims about 10 million customers, and hold stakes in telecom concerns in nine countries.
Separately, SBC named Pacific Telesis vice president Steven Hubbard as president and CEO of Pacific Bell Internet Services and Southwestern Bell Internet Services.
