Bill Hannigan: Mobilizing Ma Bell

Troubled telco AT&T has hired a new president, William Hannigan, to dial up growth. Hannigan, 44, was tapped for the job on Dec. 2 by AT&T CEO David Dorman, replacing Betsy Bernard, 48. The former president had helped cut costs during a brutal industry downturn, but now Dorman is counting on Hannigan, who had been chairman and CEO of online travel giant Sabre Holdings, to reverse a four-year slide in revenues. "The big challenge is changing the momentum," says Hannigan.

He certainly has the experience for the job. A former Navy officer, Hannigan has an extensive background in telecom, having worked with Dorman at Sprint and at SBC Communications. His strong ties to the airlines should also help, since they account for more than 10% of AT&T's corporate sales, analysts say. Following the collapse of merger talks with BellSouth this fall, many expect AT&T to struggle on its own. But if Hannigan can fire up the sales force and boost innovation, he might just prove the skeptics wrong.