SBC's regional director in Springfield retires

Bly, 54, Nov. 21 announced his retirement, effective Dec. 1. His announcement coincided with the Nov. 18 approval of a merger between SBC Communications and AT&T.

The merger received final regulatory approval from California – the last hurdle in the 10-month changeover. The Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice approved the $16 billion merger in October.

It’s purely coincidental that Bly’s retirement and the merger occurred simultaneously, he said, though he laughs at the idea that the merger was hurried along so that he could retire from the same company he began with.

Bly began his career with AT&T in 1978, and in 1984, the company divided into seven regional Bell companies. Bly moved to Southwestern Bell, which later became SBC, and now it regains the AT&T name.

Bly will go to work with his wife, Linda, who owns From Here to Wellness, a company that partners with a nutraceutical research and development company. He expects the skills he learned at SBC to transfer to his new role.

“What I’ve learned through the years is that everything is built on relationships and taking care of people,” he said. “I think that will put me in good stead regardless of if I was waiting tables or pumping gas or working with my wife.”

The most enjoyable part of working at SBC, Bly said, has been interacting with the people inside and outside the company. But he also found joy in watching the telecommunications industry converge into a voice, data and video service provider.

“We used to be a dial-tone company -– everybody had a land line, and everybody got it from us,” he said. “We see the whole industry evolving into telephone companies that provide any kind of service for business, consumer or entertainment needs, and when you look at the television companies, they’re evolving into the same thing.”

At SBC, Bly succeeded Steve Vaught, who retired in 2000, then took a job with Springfield Trust Co. as senior vice president of business development.

Next in line

Kevin Vossen will succeed Bly. Vossen previously served as executive director of external affairs for SBC’s St. Louis office. He will retain his St. Louis duties and take on Bly’s former responsibilities in the newly named position of executive director for southwest Missouri. His first day in Springfield was Nov. 16.

Vossen has been an employee of SBC for 24 years, beginning straight out of college as a cable repair technician. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and English from Benedictine College.

“My number one job is creating the kind of public policy that legislators and the people in the community can support and that brings benefits to consumers,” he said. “What I’ve come to enjoy most is the opportunity to talk to legislators about the things that can help investment and increase competition, and keep that going in a robust manner.”

New logo

At the announcement of the merger’s approval, Bly and Vossen unveiled the new AT&T logo, now three-dimensional, transparent and with a lowercase “at&t.”

The dimension of the globe represents the company’s now global presence; the transparency represents its clarity and vision; and the lowercase letters project a more accessible image, Vossen said. The core of the globe remains blue because both AT&T and SBC brands are associated with that color.

Customer bills will be mailed in envelopes featuring the logo beginning next month, and customer bill statements will have the logo in February. News ads will be co-branded with the SBC and new AT&T logos until the transition is complete.

The restructuring phase begins immediately and will entail re-branding at least 50,000 company vehicles, 6,000 company buildings, 40,000 uniforms and hard hats, 30 million customer bills, the company Web sites and millions of business cards, customer information pamphlets and phone and online directories.

Officials say the merger is not expected to affect customer rates, but the company does plan to cut as many as 13,000 jobs in the next three years. Comparatively, about 12,000 jobs are cut annually through attrition.

The job cuts will come mostly from network operations and information technology positions, and other cuts will be in business services and sales and support functions. Bly has said the local impact is unknown.

Most of SBC’s 500 Springfield employees work at either of its two customer service call centers, and most others work with infrastructure and installing underground networks, Bly said.

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