"the telecom world is at a far different place today than it was when old Ma Bell was split up."
Not really that different. Your local phone company still has a lock on the "last mile" - the actual connection to your house. Their only competition really is cable, and in most areas (at least around here) that's a monopoly too.
So lets call it a duopoly now. Big whoop.
I hope they fire every nitwit that works in customer service at Bell South. Everyone of them has been kicked in the head by a mule at least once in their lives.
Biggest bunch of dopes I have ever dealt with.
Interestingly, in my industry one of the big things catching on is "dual-sourcing" -- qualifying two interchangeable vendors to bid on projects. (Interchangeability between products from manufacturers is a relatively new thing here.) It's driven prices down considerably, compared to what happened before when once you chose one source you were effectively locked in.