AT&T saga continues with revised bids

The long-running saga, “Who will buy AT&T’s broadband unit?’ has again been revised. Top bidders Comcast, AOL Time Warner and Cox Communications submitted what published reports called “tweaks” to their bids in an effort to mollify AT&T’s board, which met Dec. 8 and asked suitors to revise their proposals.

All three cable operators, along with Microsoft, which has agreed to back both Cox and Comcast’s bids in addition to offering $4 billion to $5 billion if AT&T decides to spin off the unit, are now waiting for Wednesday’s AT&T board meeting to hear what’s next--and it’s expected that there might be more changes before, or after that.

At the Dec. 8 board meeting, AT&T reviewed initial bids and suggested the bidders rework their offers. Even with the reworking, it’s not obvious that the telecommunications giant will accept one of the three or pursue with its original plan to spin off the broadband unit, which recently received an infusion of cable-heavy management talent.

--Jim Barthold, senior editor