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AT&T's commitment to Illinois strong, president says

Though an industry as forward-looking as any, telecommunications is finding its advancements hobbled by laws and regulations written to govern the use of rotary dial telephones during the 1930s, AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza told Schaumburg area business leaders Tuesday.

Speaking at the Schaumburg Business Association's monthly meeting, La Schiazza said his company is resisting the use of old federal laws in order to regulate the Internet - as well as trying to educate lawmakers in Springfield who never stopped enforcing them statewide.

He said his company is investing $1 billion a year in Illinois, and by the end of 2015, AT&T will have doubled the number of its employees based in Schaumburg, even as the future of the company's corporate campus in neighboring Hoffman Estates remains uncertain.

The very communications technology that AT&T specializes in is making its employees more flexible in where and how they work, La Schiazza said. That may eventually make large corporate campuses, like the Hoffman Estates campus it left in 2013, as outdated as rotary telephones, he said.

But he wanted there to be no mistake about how important Illinois is to the company. Thought AT&T has a presence in 60 countries, he said 5 percent of the company's annual global investments of $20 billion are here.

"We've probably invested more in Illinois than any other company," La Schiazza said.

AT&T has 80 retail locations in the state, with its flagship store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. He suggested this the best place to glimpse the near future of telecommunications technology.

The company is not only investing in new technology in the state, it also has donated $28 million in charitable programs and has employees who are strongly community-minded, La Schiazza said. AT&T Aspire is a program that brings AT&T employees together with not-for-profits and community members to connect kids with the skills they'll need to succeed in today's workforce, he added.

"We believe every student deserves that opportunity, and the opportunity to reach their full potential," La Schiazza said.

The company also is dedicated to diversity, with 40 percent of its workforce being people of color, he added. And AT&T's investment in fuel-efficient vehicles in the state has resulted in the energy-saving equivalent of removing 4,000 vehicles from the road.

Nevertheless, the company has its own internal challenges in breaking free of the past. About a quarter of its statewide investment goes toward maintaining the old voice-only network which it is systematically trying to move beyond.

Even as 1,000 customers a day are cutting the cord on that old technology, the company must turn to vendors like eBay to find some replacement parts that aren't made anymore to serve customers who remain connected by landlines, La Schiazza said.

Whatever the future holds, La Schiazza noted that his 36 years with the company already span at least one or two bygone eras.

His first real assignment back in 1979 involved standing outside negotiating new cable television companies' pole-by-pole use AT&T's utility infrastructure. He said it was far from the type of experience his college education had prepared him to have.

  AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza addresses the evolution of the telecommunications industry, and the laws he said are holding it back, duringthe Schaumburg Business Association's monthly meeting Tuesday. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza discussed the evolution of the telecommunications industry, from rotary phones to mobile and wireless technology, during the Schaumburg Business Association's monthly meeting Tuesday. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza addresses the evolution of the telecommunications industry, and the laws he said are holding it back, duringthe Schaumburg Business Association's monthly meeting Tuesday. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza shakes hands with members of the Schaumburg Business Association after addressing the organization Tuesday during its monthly meeting in Schaumburg. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza discussed the evolution of the telecommunications industry, from rotary phones to mobile and wireless technology, during the Schaumburg Business Association's monthly meeting Tuesday. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
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