SACRAMENTO, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today, AT&T California announced more than $500,000 in Foundation grants to support education and technology initiatives for communities across the Sacramento area. The new grants include a three-year, $375,000 grant to the California Black Chamber of Commerce in support of its California Business Impact Initiative to quantify the impacts of political policy, business practices, and regulation on economic and community development provided by small and emerging businesses throughout the state.

With today's announcement, AT&T California will have provided communities across the state with more than $5 million dollars in grants this year.

"Education and technology initiatives are top priorities for AT&T in the Sacramento area," said Kathy McKim, AT&T vice president, External Affairs, North/Central Area. "AT&T understands how technology plays a crucial role in the development of the communities in which we work and live and also how important it is in the development of today's workforce."

The California Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation's California Business Impact Initiative will examine, proposed and reformed, regulatory policy on the business front to provide an assessment of the impacts to the small business community. To execute the California Business Impact Initiative, the Chamber will engage in collaborations with leading academic, economic, and policy institutes, including Hoover Institute at Stanford University, Pacific Research Institute, Claremont Institute, and the Great Valley Center. The project will develop resources that can be accessed by both businesses and policy makers to ensure a healthy climate for small business, which in turn will create jobs and opportunities.

"By making this grant, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation have continued to show their commitment to our efforts to provide the economic data that will dictate and affect public policy decisions in California," said Aubry Stone, President and CEO of the California Black Chamber of Commerce. "AT&T has been an avid supporter of supplier diversity in California and has opened its doors through foundation grants and business opportunities that can only strengthen California's economy. The Chamber is proud of its partnership with AT&T and thrilled that the AT&T Foundations is supporting this project."

     Other key grants include:
      -- $175,000 in AT&T Excelerator grants for some 16 organizations in the
         Sacramento area. These include:
           - $35,000 to the Urban League of Greater Sacramento to support
             refurbishment of the League's Computer Lab.
           - $25,000 grant to the Boys Club of Bakersfield to support
             Operation Connect which will establish two Computer Learning
             Centers serving low-income children between the ages of 5 and 17.
           - $20,000 grant to Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency to
             support the Housing and Safety Net Resources Technology Project,
             which will streamline and strengthen low-income client services
             through a revamped database, and integrate Housing Resource
             Center information into various existing county websites.
           - $15,000 grant to KVIE-TV to support the Closed Captioning for
             Hearing-Impaired project, which will secure new hardware to
             Closed Caption its High Definition/digital (HDD) programming for
             its general viewing audience.


    About the AT&T Foundation

The new AT&T Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AT&T Inc., supports programs that build communities and improve access to information technologies, technology training, and professional skills development. The new AT&T Foundation will provide more than $60 million in 2006 in charitable contributions, thereby placing it among the top five largest corporate foundations in the country. The new AT&T Foundation combines more than 40 years and $1.7 billion of philanthropic commitment to communities across the country.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T - News) is one of the world's largest telecommunications holding companies and is the largest in the United States. Operating globally under the AT&T brand, AT&T companies are recognized as the leading worldwide providers of IP-based communications services to business and as leading U.S. providers of high speed DSL Internet, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services. AT&T Inc. holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless services provider with 58.7 million wireless customers. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and AT&T products and services is available at http://www.att.com .

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