AT&T Wireless 2008 Annual Report Download - page 80

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| AT&T Annual Report 2008
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
AT&T Inc.
We have audited AT&T Inc.’s (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December31, 2008, based on criteria
established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway
Commission (the COSO criteria). The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial
reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying
Report of Management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the company’s internal control over financial reporting based
on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal
control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal
control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating
effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary
in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that
(1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions
of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation
of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the
company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s
assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements.
Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate
because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as
of December 31, 2008, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December31, 2008 and 2007, and the related consolidated statements
of income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December31, 2008, of the
Company and our report dated February12, 2009, expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
San Antonio, Texas
February 12, 2009