Wireless buoys AT&T

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told investors at a Citigroup event that the company had been affected by the weak economy: "So we're really experiencing some softness on the consumer side of the house from the economy," he said. However, AT&T's wireless business isn't experiencing much impact from the economy, according to the CEO. "As the economy gets soft, wireless starts to become the last thing" that consumers let go of, he said. "And traditional access lines become one of the first."

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Craig Moffett, a telecom analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, noted that wireless phones are now indispensable, but he said even mobile phone bills may start to go unpaid if the economy worsens.

For more on AT&T's outlook:
- read this article [1] from CNET

For more on the wireline side:
- read this article [2] from FierceTelecom