On Sept. 28, 2004, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its ratings on regional Bell operating company (RBOC) SBC Communications Corp. and its affiliate, Cingular Wireless LLC. The long-term corporate credit rating on both entities was lowered to 'A' from 'A+'. At the same time, the 'A-1' short-term ratings for SBC were affirmed. All ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on Feb. 17, 2004, following the announcement that Cingular (owned 60%/40% by SBC and BellSouth Corp., respectively) agreed to acquire AT&T Wireless Services Inc. for $41 billion plus assumption of debt (net of cash), which totaled about $6 billion as of June 30, 2004. The ratings outlook for both companies is negative. The ratings
