AT&T taps Dorman

AT&T named Concert CEO Dave Dorman to the position of AT&T president today, freeing up CEO C. Michael Armstrong to focus on the carrier’s recently announced restructuring and its cable telephony business.

As president of AT&T, Dorman will head up the operations of the company’s core consumer and business services units, as well as its network services group, international ventures and AT&T Labs. He will continue to oversee the company’s interests in Concert, AT&T’s international joint venture with BT.

AT&T’s cable and wireless businesses will continue to report to CEO C. Michael Armstrong, as will corporate functions such as finance, law, government affairs, and human resources.

Before becoming CEO of Concert in April 1999, Dorman was chairman, president and CEO of PointCast, the “push” content delivery venture that pioneered what was supposed to be a “killer” application for the Internet. But the company wound up being sold to Internet incubator ideaLab in May 1999 and discontinuing its flagship product.

Before PointCast, in 1994, at age 39, Dorman became the youngest CEO of a Bell operating company when he was named to head Pacific Bell. Dorman also spent 14 years at Sprint.

Gary Weis, president and chief operating officer of Concert, will take over as acting CEO of Concert effective immediately. AT&T’s last president was John Zeglis, who last year was named to lead the new AT&T Wireless Group as its chairman and chief executive.