AT&T announced on Friday the completion of the acquisition of Interwise, a leading global provider of Internet Protocol (IP) based voice, web and video conferencing services.

On the same day AT&T announced the launch of AT&T connect, the first in a planned series of converged AT&T branded voice, video and web conferencing products and services that will accelerate the delivery of unified communications to companies worldwide.

With the capabilities of Interwise integrated into AT&T's industry leading global IP based network, we've got the reach, scale and customer base to quickly deliver to businesses what other players can only promise in the unified communications space, said Ronald E. Spears, group president, AT&T Global Business Services.

The introduction of AT&T Connect is advancing the company's focus on delivering a comprehensive, global portfolio of unified communications solutions the demand of which is expected to total $5.9 billion in 2007, with continued growth in 2008 and many years to come.

The company intends to integrate its existing award-winning portfolio of voice, web and video conferencing services with the capabilities it gains from the Interwise acquisition by the fourth quarter of 2008.

The existing AT&T conferencing and messaging services will be key elements in AT&T's ongoing development plans to deliver expanded unified communications solutions.

Interwise joined AT&T's existing enterprise services organization as a subsidiary of AT&T communications Corp.

Electronics AT&T