An overreach? Really? I'd say that you're not paying attention. And how do you come to that conclusion? By the fact that "very little" of the original AT&T is in the current monolith? Well, given the entire 'two-tiered' money-grab-tastic issues involved, I'd say you're a little out of touch. - ferg -- "Eric A. Hall" <ehall@ehsco.com> wrote: On 3/5/2006 7:10 PM, Steve Sobol wrote:
Eric A. Hall wrote:
What are people worried about here exactly?
The same lack of competition in telecommunications that we had in the 1980s?
Well that's an overreach. And if the primary concern is consolidation then we should have blocked NYNEX and Bell Atlantic from merging back in 1997, since this deal is basically SBC + BellSouth/Cingular, which is mostly indistinguishable from the earlier one. I think people are reacting to the brand, the AT&T ghost really, since there's none of it left. -- Eric A. Hall http://www.ehsco.com/ Internet Core Protocols http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/coreprot/ -- "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson Engineering Architecture for the Internet fergdawg@netzero.net or fergdawg@sbcglobal.net ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/
On Mar 6, 2006, at 3:24 AM, Fergie wrote:
An overreach? Really?
I'd say that you're not paying attention.
Sorry, Fergie, but I gotta disagree with you here. In the 1980s, cell phones were not even close to useable by most people, but now there are lots of people who don't need anything else. Not to mention cable TV providers doing voice. Oh, and that whole VoIP thing. Etc., etc. So I would say that equating the BS & SBC^wat&t merger with the (lack of) choice we had in the 80s an overreach. Really.
And how do you come to that conclusion? By the fact that "very little" of the original AT&T is in the current monolith?
Well, given the entire 'two-tiered' money-grab-tastic issues involved, I'd say you're a little out of touch.
Hey, I didn't say it would be good for the consumer. :) Clearly, this is not the best possible situation for the end user. But the current situation is still much better than the 1980s. And way better than before that. (Remember when it was _illegal_ to own a phone?) One could argue that there were times between 1990 and now that was better for the consumer, but not all of them. IMHO, of course. -- TTFN, patrick
-- "Eric A. Hall" <ehall@ehsco.com> wrote:
On 3/5/2006 7:10 PM, Steve Sobol wrote:
Eric A. Hall wrote:
What are people worried about here exactly?
The same lack of competition in telecommunications that we had in the 1980s?
Well that's an overreach. And if the primary concern is consolidation then we should have blocked NYNEX and Bell Atlantic from merging back in 1997, since this deal is basically SBC + BellSouth/Cingular, which is mostly indistinguishable from the earlier one.
I think people are reacting to the brand, the AT&T ghost really, since there's none of it left.
-- Eric A. Hall http:// www.ehsco.com/ Internet Core Protocols http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/ coreprot/
-- "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson Engineering Architecture for the Internet fergdawg@netzero.net or fergdawg@sbcglobal.net ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/
Nice rant. But since this isn't your blog you'll probably have to grace us with some substance. None of AT&T exists anymore--SBC acquired that corpse last year, so the company currently calling itself "AT&T" isn't even really "AT&T". The new deal is basically SBC buying up BellSouth and getting the rest of Cingular in the deal. I just don't see how this is all that different from the stream of M&As that produced Verizon back in the 90s. Sure it's a big deal, just like that one was. Another giant telco, hoorah. Nightsweats about the ghost of Ma Bell rising? lol no. On 3/5/2006 10:24 PM, Fergie wrote:
An overreach? Really?
I'd say that you're not paying attention.
And how do you come to that conclusion? By the fact that "very little" of the original AT&T is in the current monolith?
Well, given the entire 'two-tiered' money-grab-tastic issues involved, I'd say you're a little out of touch.
- ferg
-- "Eric A. Hall" <ehall@ehsco.com> wrote:
On 3/5/2006 7:10 PM, Steve Sobol wrote:
Eric A. Hall wrote:
What are people worried about here exactly?
The same lack of competition in telecommunications that we had in the 1980s?
Well that's an overreach. And if the primary concern is consolidation then we should have blocked NYNEX and Bell Atlantic from merging back in 1997, since this deal is basically SBC + BellSouth/Cingular, which is mostly indistinguishable from the earlier one.
I think people are reacting to the brand, the AT&T ghost really, since there's none of it left.
-- Eric A. Hall http://www.ehsco.com/ Internet Core Protocols http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/coreprot/
participants (3)
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Eric A. Hall -
Fergie -
Patrick W. Gilmore