AT&T Executive John Stankey: Harvey Will Lead to Drop in Customers, Take Years of Rebuilding

AT&T entertainment executive John Stankey says Hurricane Harvey is already hitting the company's bottom line. Stankey, the company's entertainment chief, said water and high winds have damaged some of the Dallas-based telecom company's infrastructure. He said it also displaced many AT&T cable and internet customers who live in hard-hit parts of southeast Texas. That will cause an at least temporary drop in subscribers for the third quarter, he said."You see customers who obviously lose a home, make a decision to disconnect the service and then they go through the cycle of finding someplace else to live," he said.Stankey spoke about Harvey's effect at the Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference Thursday in Los Angeles. He's leading merger integration planning for AT&T and media and entertainment company Time Warner. The pending deal, valued at $108.7 billion, including debt, is expected to close by end-of-year.  Continue reading...