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AT&T Study: 30 Percent of Los Angeles Companies Say Preparation for Man-Made or Natural Disasters Is 'Not a Priority'

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

LOS ANGELES, June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As the Los Angeles area heads into another fire season, a national AT&T Inc. survey today revealed that 26 percent of Los Angeles-based companies do not have adequate plans in place to cope with man-made or natural disasters.

Despite the devastating fires that annually plague Southern California, including the destructive blazes witnessed in each of the past three years, 40 percent of the 100 companies polled by AT&T also said that they don't take specific protective actions even when state or federal governments issue warnings for an impending disaster, such as wildfires.

And for those companies that were hit with recent disasters, 63 percent indicated that it costs $100,000 a day or more in repairs and loss of business, and an additional 7 percent said that it costs more that $1 million a day, which translates to a loss of $5 million a week, if normal operations cannot be restored.

More so than any other market surveyed, Los Angeles IT executives largely see cybersecurity as a "top concern" for their organization. In all, 37 percent rated cybersecurity as a top concern, compared with 28 percent in all other markets. Consequently, 94 percent of companies in Los Angeles with a business continuity plan say that they have implemented Internet security measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection services, hacker protection, and/or password authentication systems.

For the fifth consecutive year, AT&T has polled chief information officers and other senior IT executives at companies throughout the United States with more than $10 million in annual revenue for their views on disaster planning/business continuity trends.

"It's evident that for some companies in the Los Angeles area, the disastrous events in recent years have been a real wake-up call," said Becky Doi, sales vice president of Enterprise-AT&T. "That's the good news. But it's disconcerting how many companies are still putting their businesses and future at risk by not adequately planning for the next wildfire or earthquake."

AT&T brings its own business continuity and disaster recovery expertise in running and managing some of the world's largest and most complex networks -- including its own -- to businesses worldwide. AT&T offers a wide array of business continuity services encompassing disaster planning, risk management, recovery preparedness and communications readiness.

The company also conducts network disaster recovery (NDR) exercises several times a year that are designed to test, refine, and strengthen AT&T's business continuity and disaster response services in order to minimize network downtime. By simulating large-scale disasters and network service disruptions, AT&T can apply and refine best in class practices for quickly restoring communications to government and business customers.

Throughout the past 10 years, AT&T has invested more than $300 million in its NDR program, which includes specially trained managers, engineers, and technicians from across the United States, as well as a fleet of more than 150 self-contained equipment trailers, and support vehicles that house the same equipment and components as an AT&T data-routing or voice-switching center.

For more information on the AT&T 2006 Business Continuity study, including the complete report, visit http://www.att.com/biz_continuity_survey .

Study Methodology

These results are derived from a telephone interviews conducted by Western Wats and Opinion Research Corporation of 100 Information Technology (IT) executives from companies with more than $10 million in annual revenue in the Los Angeles metropolitan region. All respondents were screened to ensure that they are a senior decision-maker with responsibility for handling information technology at their respective organization.

"Overall" or "national" data comparisons reflect the complete results of a telephone survey of 1,000 IT executives encompassing 10 markets in the United States, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, St. Louis, Seattle, and Washington D.C. Interviews were conducted January 17 - May 9, 2006.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. is one of the world's largest telecommunications holding companies and is the largest in the United States. Operating globally under the AT&T brand, AT&T companies are recognized as the leading worldwide providers of IP-based communications services to business and as leading U.S. providers of high speed DSL Internet, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services. AT&T Inc. holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless services provider with 55.8 million wireless customers. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and AT&T products and services is available at http://www.att.com/ .

Subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. provide products and services under the AT&T brand.

AT&T Inc.

CONTACT: Gina Pernetti of AT&T, +1-916-847-8542, gcpernetti@att.com

Web site: http://www.att.com/http://www.att.com/biz_continuity_survey

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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