AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) disclosed that it has struck a tentative deal with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) as far as mobility contract negotiations are concerned. This was in respect of the company’s Southwest region of CWA District 6. This could be a relief to the company as it can now focus on the operation side. However, both AT&T and the union have not disclosed the content of their tentative deal.
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Contract Extension
AT&T announced that both sides struck an agreement on February 26 to a 48-hour contract extension. The agreement was reached before the deadline of the earlier contract that came to an end on February 28. That meant that there would not be any disruption of work, which would have otherwise affected customers.
The latest agreement between the two sides affected over 9,400 employees of Mobility in different states. These include Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas. The telecom service provider indicated that it would not provide the details of the agreement until the union presented them to its members for a vote. Under normal circumstances, the union will not likely have any issues in convincing its members to vote for the proposals. Trouble can erupt only if the union rejects the tentative proposals signed by union heads.
Next Generation IP
In a separate development, AT&T said that it was unveiling its next generation IP network service for 9-1-1. The company indicated that the nationwide service would transform its networks thus helping public safety organizations with a better managed communication system. The company’s ESInet was meant to accelerate the adoption as it meets the recent i3 standards of the National Emergency Number Association.
AT&T CEO, Randal Stephenson said that its deployment of the ESInet would be an important step in its next generation IP implementation. He said that the complexity of the IP call route would be a big barrier to the adoption. According to Fontes, ESINet will simplify the transition to call routing services.