Luis Gonzalez knows a little about climbing the corporate ladder.
About 24 years ago he started his telecommunications career as a customer service rep and a bill collector for Cellular One in Boston.
He’s changed jobs within the company more times than it’s been bought or sold. He’s seen the company rolled into Cingular One and then become AT&T. During those years, he’s moved from an agent coordinator to an area retail sales manager and then a director of Connecticut AT&T-owned retail stores.
But now Gonzalez finds himself in his most important role yet. He’s been tapped to run AT&T’s U-verse business in Connecticut, taking the official title of general manager of home solutions.
He oversees the entire state, including call centers, retail outlets, and outbound telemarketing and he is playing an integral role in rolling out the service to add customers and jobs.
U-verse is the three-year old Internet television service that is creating major competition for traditional cable companies in the state like Comcast and Cox. It’s AT&T’s premier product on the wire-line side of its business and is available in more than 100 Connecticut cities and towns.
Across the country U-verse has 2.4 million customers and in Connecticut there are 545,000 households eligible to receive the service, a number expected to grow past 700,000 in the coming months and years.
“We expect pretty aggressive expansion in the next year or so,” Gonzalez said. “The demand is very high right now. A lot more residents and communities are looking for it.”
Gonzalez said competition within the industry is fierce as cable and telecommunications companies continue to diversify and encroach on each other’s turf. And Connecticut in particular has one of the most competitive environments, he said.
The latest push to make AT&T and its U-verse services stand out is bundling, Gonzalez said. By offering the TV service in a package with voice, Internet and wireless services, it makes it more attractive to consumers who can receive a single bill and potential savings for combining all the plans, he said. In addition, AT&T is increasingly integrating its wireless and TV services. For example, customers can now download programs onto their wireless device and then record a TV show outside their home.
“Bundling is seen as the way of the future for telecommunications companies,” said Gonzalez, who also boasts that AT&T now offers about 130 HD channels, more than any other provider. “As consumers become more savvy and are looking to get more savings on a variety of different services that they subscribe to, I think they are looking for that.”
U-verse’s deployment in the state has had its controversial moments. The refrigerator size utility boxes through which the service is provided created legal battles from annoyed property owners and government officials who complained they were eyesores. There were also legal concerns over whether AT&T could sell U-verse without being regulated as a cable TV provider.
But Adam Cormier, a spokesman for AT&T, said it has been quiet on the legal front as of late. He also said AT&T has been developing utility boxes that provide more capacity and distance, which means they’ll be able to reach more homes with fewer boxes.
“Things are running smoothly,” Cormier said.
Gonzalez, who started in his most recent position in January, said taking on so many different jobs within the company has been the key to his rise within AT&T. He’s been able to see how different parts of the business run, including both wireless and wire line services.
He’s also interacted with key players within the company, ranging from independent agents to retail store managers.
But another role Gonzalez has recently taken within the company is also very important to him.
He has been named a regional diversity advocate, a position Gonzalez said is significant as the company looks to expand its customer base and diversify its workforce. Gonzalez is working with AT&T leaders across northeast to promote diversity activities.
AT&T has opened 10 Hispanic Intensive Traffic stores in New England that cater to the Spanish speaking community, with Spanish-language brochures and merchandise. At least half of the staff at the stores must also speak Spanish.
“We want to have a diverse mix of management and employees because quite frankly the customers that come through our door are from all walks of life,” Gonzalez said.
Along with his role heading up AT&T’s U-verse unit, Luis Gonzalez is the telecom giant’s regional diversity advocate.
