Sylvia Samano is president of AT&T Nevada, responsible for regulatory, legislative, governmental and external affairs activities. While at AT&T, she has held management positions in marketing, public relations, advertising and government and regulatory affairs. She has more than 28 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry. Before moving to Nevada, she held positions in Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, San Francisco and Los Angeles. She is active in community outreach and holds leadership positions in several local nonprofit agencies, including the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, KNPB Channel 5, United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra and the Nevada Taxpayers Association. She also serves on the advisory board of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Northern Nevada.

How is AT&T responding to the ongoing growth of communications devices?

There’s no doubt the way we communicate today has changed dramatically. The Internet has revolutionized how we gather information, how we shop, how we listen to music and watch a video. If you think about it, we have office phones, cell phones, home phones, PDAs, Blackberries, laptops, desktops and countless messages spread out among all of them. Our focus is to make all these devices work together and work better for us. Convergence is becoming so important to consumers who want to enjoy the benefits of anytime, anywhere communications on virtually any device.

So, what is your plan for creating this convergence?

AT&T is building a strategy around the three screens that many consumers value most: the TV, the PC and wireless phone. About a year ago, on a national basis, folks using wireless phones surpassed land lines, which is very interesting. In addition, you have Voice over Internet Protocol as well as instant messaging, and all these devices compete with traditional telephony. AT&T is uniquely positioned to deliver on the promise of convergence.

Which elements of this strategy are of most interest to businesses?

We’ve been able to offer the quadruple play of voice, video, data and wireless as part of our bundle. The video is primarily on the residential/consumer side, and businesses want voice, data and wireless. I think what businesses look for us to do is to streamline their process, make sure their voice and data systems are the fastest in the industry. Everyone’s looking for speed today.

What’s been the most notable thing you’ve experienced during your 28 years in telecommunications?

The change in technology during that time. It’s been unbelievable. Every year things change, primarily on the technology side. I think we’re in an environment where people just demand change. They want higher technology. They’ve just become used to it. The younger generation was using computers in kindergarten, so they’re looking at things a lot differently than we did growing up.

Can a large, established company like AT&T move quickly enough to keep up with young companies using new technologies?

Absolutely. I think we are very well grounded as a company. We were one of the first to realize the power and possibilities of Internet Protocol, combined with the flexibility of wireless, to drive productivity, create new business models and keep customers always connected. We’re on the fast track to bringing our three-screen strategy to reality. We know technology, and we work very hard on that one-to-one relationship with customers, whether residential or business. I think they view us as someone they’ve done business with for many, many years. We are a global company, so we have a lot of folks who want to work with us because of their previous experience in another state or other location.

Do you have any specific management techniques that work especially well?

One thing I like to do in a team-building sense is to be sure that everyone is a viable player; to include everybody. I want to get the facts and opinions of my team members before I make a final decision. I don’t have a problem making decisions, but I enjoy getting input from everyone on the team. I’ve found that has served me very well.