PEORIA, Ill., May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Inc. today announced a three-year hosting services contract with Clifton Gunderson LLP, one of the leading CPA and consulting firms in the nation.

Under terms of the contract, AT&T will provide additional space for Clifton Gunderson's servers at one of its Chicago-area Internet Data Centers (IDCs). AT&T provides hosting services at 36 IDCs around the world. AT&T's IDCs are highly-secure, fortified buildings and are designed to house mission- critical data for business customers. Customers at these centers are protected from power failure, physical intrusion and network outages by extensive back- up power and cooling systems, multi-layered security and fire protection.

Clifton Gunderson, like many companies, requires additional hosting capacity to securely house a growing and increasingly important set of business applications and systems and to provide enough capacity to accommodate future communications needs.

In addition to expanded hosting services, AT&T also provides Clifton Gunderson with Virtual Private Network (VPN) services, integrating some 42 offices in 14 states and Washington, D.C. The network services, which support Clifton Gunderson's day-to-day operations, are based on AT&T's Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) platform.

AT&T's MPLS technology enables Clifton Gunderson to prioritize its applications to ensure that all offices have the necessary bandwidth to access the information they need when they need it.

"As our network services and applications such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), messaging services and document management capabilities continue to converge, the tight integration of our data center and VPN services provides us with tremendous cost efficiencies and peak performance," said Jeff Hapeman, chief technology officer for Clifton Gunderson. "AT&T's solution met all of our requirements for availability, cost containment and high-speed, peak network performance."

AT&T's portfolio of hosting services delivers a range of data management capabilities that provide organizations with secure networking solutions. These hosting services ensure continuous availability of data, optimal routing and secure delivery of mission-critical information. AT&T's expansive suite of services includes security, storage, intelligent content distribution, load balancing, virtual services offerings, data networking integration and other services.

In addition, through the AT&T BusinessDirect(R) Web portal, Clifton Gunderson has around-the-clock access to real-time information about the performance of its network services and a direct connection to electronic billing and ordering systems.

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About Clifton Gunderson

Clifton Gunderson LLP is the 12th largest CPA and consulting firm in the nation. Since 1960, Clifton Gunderson has been providing clients with a variety of services ranging from traditional auditing and accounting services to governmental services, tax and financial planning, technology consulting, business valuation, forensic services and employee benefit services, as well as specialized services for specific business sectors. Clifton Gunderson Financial Services, a subsidiary of Clifton Gunderson LLP, provides clients with financial planning, insurance and employee benefit services. Technology consulting services are provided by Clifton Gunderson Technology Solutions. Clifton Gunderson and its affiliates have offices in 14 states and Washington, DC.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/.

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CONTACT: Tom Hopkins of AT&T Inc., +1-312-230-4889,
thomashopkins@att.com

Web site: http://www.att.com/