sundance-communications.com Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information SBC Buying AT&T...what's everyone think?

I'm just curious what everyone thinks about the SBC purchase of AT&T? I guess the obvious thing that stands out is the irony of a "Baby Bell" buying "Ma Bell", after "Ma Bell" was broken up because it was too big. What other comments and thoughts have others come up with? They keep commenting on our network news that this is bad for competition. Duh! The only good thing I see coming out of it so far is that those poor saps who let AT&T take over their local service have now maybe been saved, by being brought back to the local carrier.

Funny. I guess this is progress!

Retired AT&T here: 5 years ago, when AT&T started laying off techs and outsourcing and proclaiming what were tech jobs as management jobs, I said they were posturing to sell off. Having said that AT&T has the infrastructure to help any of the Bells to expand their services. I don't know if they can grow fast enough to beat out the growing interest in VOIP in broadband though. The corporate greed at AT&T did them in, they never let their idea of bundling get off the ground and the paid way over market for cable networks then jumped ship before the change could work. Quick money was the name of the game, hopefully SBC can use the network for quality and loyal service, something AT&T forgot.
Bill

Retired BellSouth
I went through the breakup. I feel we have lost
an American Icon. AT&T and Montgomery Wards were suppose to last forever.
JBW

I was wondering when someone was going to post a comment section on this merger. I have been tossing and turning over this one. Besides programming the switch my main job is dialtone traffic and contracts. In my 12 1/2 years in this position I have been bitten by many telecom companies but none as badly as SBC. They were always the greatest at pointing a finger at another provider when something went down, only to find out it was SBC's issue in the first place. I don't like what is happening here. I've been trying to move all of my business over to AT&T but had a few things yet on contracts with SBC. I guess my work is over on that. We need the competition and we don't need one huge company to take over again. I know very little about VoIP but I guess I'm going to learn, fast...

LOL, I can say I have never seen SBC and QUALITY used in the same sentence!

unless the word POOR appeared before it!

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Well I always said everything happens in cycles - but this one definitely a lopsided cycle. My stepson who has worked the last four years for Cingular Wireless (SBC sub) was told last week his whole group was getting the pink slip for replacement with AT&T folks. So it appears bottom line that SBC had the money to purchase AT&T management personnel and the MA Bell is recuperating from heart transplant??

I know this is way premature, but would the next step in the cycle be another breakup? Or would it be someone else buying SBC once they crumble like AT&T has. Or will a better idea (like Vonage) come along and end up buying SBC? I guess it depends on whether free market reigns, or whether government regulation steps in.

I think another thing that could happen is SBC buying a company like Vonage, to cut down on their competition. After all, now SBC will have their own interest in a VOIP solution with what AT&T currently has and is being bought by SBC.

This whole development is very interesting.

I went through divestature as an AT&T tech and watched the jobs go away, incuding my own. I seriously doubt if this merger will create jobs.
Screw the work force and pamper the FAT cats seems to be the agenda!

Rich

Funny, with all the take overs and buy outs, almost looks like in about 10 or 20 years it's all going to be one company again.

I worked with a lot of laid-off western electric guys about 20 years ago. They were all recently laid off from the biggest company in the whole world. A favorite saying was "there ain't no such thing as a sure thing". The economic media types blame AT&T's demise on their trying to keep up with Worldcoms (all recently indited) inflated earnings.