Fitch affirms AT&T

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed AT&T Inc.'s long-term issuer default rating, senior unsecured debt rating and bank credit facilities at A and its short-term issuer default rating and commercial paper at F1.

The agency also affirmed the A long-term issuer default ratings and senior unsecured debt ratings of AT&T's subsidiaries including AT&T Corp., BellSouth Corp., AT&T Mobility LLC and New Cingular Wireless Services, LLC, among others.

The outlook is stable.

AT&T's ratings incorporate Fitch's expectations that, on a long-term basis, the company has the financial flexibility to maintain leverage in a range appropriate for the current rating category. For the last 12 months ending March 31, leverage approximated 1.7 times.

AT&T's ratings also reflect its diversified revenue mix, its significant size and economies of scale as the largest telecommunications operator in the United States and Fitch's expectation that AT&T will benefit from continued growth in wireless operating cash flows, the agency said.

According to Fitch, issues to watch include the pressure of economic weakness on the company's lines of business during 2009 and competition in the consumer wireline business.

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