AT&T Helps SMBs Boost Their Services on the Web -

New Web Hosting and Web Site Design Solutions Help Small Businesses Extend Their Operations

SAN ANTONIO, April 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Small and midsize businesses are about to get a big boost in how they use the Web to grow their business, thanks to AT&T.

AT&T Inc. NYSE: T has announced the availability of new turnkey Web hosting solutions and Web site design services developed specifically for today's small and midsize businesses. Using these services, companies can easily and cost-effectively launch a new or improve an existing Web site, sell products or services online, build an online community, manage company email, distribute digital content, host a gaming server, or run many other business applications.

AT&T Web Hosting(SM) Virtual Dedicated Server and Managed Dedicated Server offerings are ideal for organizations that need more than shared server space and applications but don't require the complex multiserver environment of enterprise hosting. A menu of standard server plans for both Microsoft Windows(R) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux(R) platforms allows customers to choose the plan that best meets their capacity and operating system needs.

AT&T Virtual Dedicated Server emulates a dedicated server in a shared environment, allowing multiple customers to securely share the expense of hardware and network connections without sharing software or sacrificing performance or security. AT&T Managed Dedicated Server provides enterprise-class server functionality and software to power the most intensive sites and applications with dedicated bandwidth and processing power. Customers benefit from the security and performance of a dedicated environment without incurring the costs of managing the hardware in-house.

AT&T Web Design Services provide competitively priced design template solutions that go beyond the available free tools for do-it-yourself Web site creation. New AT&T Web Hosting customers can select a hosting package and then choose from four different plans providing up to 10 Web pages. Consultation with a design expert is included in the package cost. Support for customization services like copywriting, blog and forum integration, database development, search engine optimization and design integration with shopping carts also is available.

"More small and midsize businesses want enterprise-class Web hosting without the enterprise price tag, and these solutions fill the gap between a simple Web hosting plan and a fully managed enterprise solution," said Roman Pacewicz, senior vice president, Regional Business Marketing. "Our Web site design services give small businesses the features they need to get up and running quickly and start doing business right out of the gate, all from a company that understands what small businesses need to succeed."

AT&T Web Hosting Services include an intuitive user interface that supports easy Web site design, search engine submission, search engine ranking optimization, banner ad creation, e-mail management and Web site traffic and user behavior reports. Technical users can perform tasks such as managing domain name registration, viewing CPU and memory usage information, managing data backups, installing applications and administering the database.

List pricing for the Virtual Dedicated Server ranges from $80 to $150/month, and Managed Dedicated Server from $350 to $900/month. This compares with simple shared Web hosting from AT&T that starts at $13 a month, and complex enterprise hosting that can cost thousands of dollars. Although pricing and service level agreements (SLAs) are designed for small and midsize businesses, large companies will also find it economical to use these services for stand-alone projects, online data storage or disaster recovery.

Pricing for AT&T Web Design Service ranges from $255 for a simple two-page Web site to $1,595 for a 10-page Web site. A wide variety of add-on capabilities, including e-commerce, flash animation, database development and banner ad management, also are available to customers.