AT&T Wireless 2015 Annual Report Download - page 84

82 | AT&T INC.
The Board of Directors and Stockholders of AT&T Inc.
We have audited AT&T Inc.’s (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2015, based on
criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (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.
As indicated in the accompanying Report of Management, management’s assessment of and conclusion on the effectiveness
of internal control over financial reporting did not include the internal controls of its DIRECTV and Mexico wireless businesses,
which are included in the December 31, 2015 consolidated financial statements of the Company. DIRECTV constituted 20.3%
of total assets and 9.9% of total revenues for the year then ended. The Mexico wireless businesses constituted 1.6% of
total assets and 1.3% of total revenues for the year then ended. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting of
the Company did not include an evaluation of the internal control over financial reporting of DIRECTV or the Mexico
wireless businesses.
In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2015, 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, 2015 and 2014, and the related consolidated
statements of income, comprehensive income, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years
in the period ended December 31, 2015 and our report dated February 18, 2016 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Dallas, Texas
February 18, 2016
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm