Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Plan, all elections and notices of every kind under this Plan shall be made on forms prepared by AT&T or the General Counsel, Secretary or Assistant Secretary, or their respective delegates or shall be made in such other manner as permitted or required by AT&T or the General Counsel, Secretary or Assistant Secretary, or their respective delegates, including through electronic means, over the Internet or otherwise. An election shall be deemed made when received by AT&T (or its designated agent, but only in cases where the designated agent has been appointed for the purpose of receiving such election), which may waive any defects in form. Unless made irrevocable by the electing person, each election with regard to making Employee Contributions or distributions of Cash Deferral Accounts shall become irrevocable at the close of business on the last day to make such election. AT&T may limit the time an election may be made in advance of any deadline.

Elections. Any election under this Paragraph 8.9 shall be in writing on a form approved by the Committee, shall be filed in accordance with such procedures as the Committee shall establish and shall be subject to the written consent of the Eligible Participant’s spouse (as defined in Paragraph 8.1(e)) in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 8.1(f), if applicable. If an Eligible Participant who has filed an election under this Paragraph 8.9 becomes legally married prior to the Early Distribution Date, such election shall be subject to such spousal consent requirements.

Elections. All elections and notices of any kind hereunder shall be in writing and provided to the Secretary of the Company in a form prescribed by the Secretary. Unless marked as irrevocable, an election may be modified or revoked at any time prior to, and shall not be effective until, the deadline for making such election.

Use of Electronic Media to Provide Notices and Make Participant Elections. Pursuant to Treasury Regulations Section 1.401(a)-21, the Plan may elect to use electronic media to provide notices required to be provided to Participants under the Plan and will accept elections from Participants communicated to the Plan using such electronic media.

notices or elections from two or more persons or entities with respect to the same Registered Securities, the Company

Deferral Elections. At any time within the 30-day period (or other shorter or longer period that the Committee selects in its sole discretion) in which a Participant who is a member of a select group of management or highly compensated employees (within the meaning of the Code) receives an Award of Restricted Share Units (or before the calendar year in which such a Participant receives a subsequent Award, subject to adjustments by the Committee in accordance with Code Section 409A), the Committee may permit the Participant to irrevocably elect, on a form provided by and acceptable to the Committee, to defer the receipt of all or a percentage of the Shares that would otherwise be transferred to the Participant upon the vesting of such Award more than 12 months after the date of the Participant’s deferral election. If the Participant makes this election, the Shares subject to the election, and any associated dividends and interest, shall be credited to an account established pursuant to Section 9 on the date such Shares would otherwise have been released or issued to the Participant pursuant to Section 8(d) and no vesting shall occur (other than for death or Disability if provided pursuant to the Award Agreement) within the 12-month period following the date of the Participant’s election.

A participant may elect to have all of his accounts invested in such investment fund or combination of investment funds as may be established by the trustee and made available for the benefit of participants; provided, however, that in no event may the participant direct that any portion of his account(s) be invested in collectibles (as defined in Code section 408(m)). A participant's investment election shall not apply to any portion of any account that may be invested in a participant loan sub-account established under Section 4.4. The investment results shall be allocated to the participant's account(s) based upon earnings and losses on the participant's share in such investment fund or funds.

For Directors who make an Annual Deferred Cash Election, the Company will establish a bookkeeping account for cash deferred for that Plan Year (an “Annual Deferred Cash Account”) and will credit to the Annual Deferred Cash Account the amount of the Eligible Fees earned and deferred by him/her as of the date such fees would normally be payable by the Company (the “Credit Date”). Amounts credited to an Eligible Director’s Annual Deferred Cash Account will be adjusted for gains and/or losses to the same extent that equal amounts would have been adjusted if they had been invested in one or more notional investments designated by the Company. The use of notional investments herein is solely as a device for computing the amount of benefits to be paid under the Plan, and the Company shall not be required to purchase such investments.

Tax Elections. Buyer will not make any election under Code Section 338 or Code Section 336 (or any similar provisions under state, local, or foreign Law) with respect to the acquisition of the Partnership Interest pursuant to this Agreement.

Default Elections. If a Participant fails to specify the date on which payment of the deferred amount and any HP Matching Contributions for the Plan Year (and earnings thereon) is to commence, then Participant will be deemed to have elected distribution at Participant’s Termination Date, subject to Sections 5.3 or 5.4 below. If a Participant fails to make an effective payment form designation on a Deferral Form, the amount deferred and any HP Matching Contributions for the Plan Year (and earnings thereon) under such Deferral Form will be distributed in a single lump sum in the year elected.