Moody’s cuts AT&T ratings

Moody’s Investors Service cut AT&T’s short- and long-term debt ratings Thursday, citing the deteroriation in AT&T’s traditional long-distance operations coupled with mounting debt levels.

Moody’s cut AT&T’s long-term rating to A3 and dropped its rating for AT&T Broadband even further, to Baa1. AT&T’s short-term debt rating was cut from Prime-1 to Prime-2. The firm also warned it may cut these ratings again. The downgrades affect an estimated $53 billion in debt.

Earlier this week AT&T posted severe drops in operating profits and revenues, leading Moody’s to reevaluate its ratings. As of Friday, ratings for AT&T issued by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch remained unchanged.

--Kevin Fitchard, staff writer