And how much did the gov't spend way back when to break up ol' MaBell cuz she was too much of a monopoly??
AT&T: We're Getting The Band Back Together.
Great. I'm already urinated off because SBC just merged with ATT, and I have SBC Yahoo! for my DSL. Now this crap. ATT is a dinosaur, they're the GM of telecommunications.
That's interesting.
Huge merger - massive layoffs coming
In the beginning, there was Ma Bell. And the government said, "This is not good." So the Bell was broken.
Then, came monopolistic competition. And the government said, "This is not good." So the industry was deregulated.
Then came the deregulated free-for-all. And the government said "It is good."
But without regulation, the companies had Free Will to do as they please rejected competition, saying "Let's merge."
It's the circle of life.
Is this the SBC/AT&T?
Cingular was a split between AT&T(formally SBC) and BellSouth. BellSouth is an easy take over target.
Last time, the government called this a monopoly, and I agree that it was. Why is it different now? AT&T just bought SBC, who bought Ameritech a while back. If there's only one or two giant phone companies, why even have antitrust laws in the first place?
The Empire Strikes Back
I can't wait to see how this reduction of competition plays out on my phone bill.
Then after the cable company gets congress to dereg they're gonna "give me everything I deserve".
I've been assuming the position for so long it's starting to affect my posture.
Welcome to the new AT&T. Here's your pink slip.
AW JEEZ! Ma bell is back!
I remember as a kid my dad had to make a lng distance phone call (1970 about). He could hardly hear the other end. He talked to the international operator to complain. She said "Sir you could always use another service". Laughed and hung up. My ol'man was p**sed. As soon as they broke up you can bet he never used AT&T again.
Now their BAAAACK.
if a man lives long enough...
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
[while standing at the entrance to the Triple Rock church watching the service with much dancing and Hallelujah choruses, a heavenly light shines down on Jake and he has an epiphany] Jake: The band... the band... Reverend Cleophus James: DO YOU SEE THE LIGHT? Jake: THE BAND. Reverend Cleophus James: DO YOU SEE THE LIGHT? Elwood: What light? Reverend Cleophus James: HAVE YOU SEEEEN THE LIGHT? Jake: YES. YES. JESUS H. TAP-DANCING CHRIST... I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT.
Ed Whitacre was dead serious when he became CEO of the old Southwestern Bell Corporation (later SBC and now AT&T) and said the Bell System would be put back together. No one took him seriously at the time.
Save for later
SBC is a criminal enterprise masquerading as a telecom company. It has no problem at all engaging in fraud with its cramming scams.
It refuses to remove cramming charges from an obviously criminal operation out of Haiti. Now I need to go to small claims court and sue these jackasses. And I won't have any problem charging these jerks $100 per hour for my time.
Hey, folks.
VoIP via cable internet.
Problem solved.