<p>Ah, why is the font so big lol? I thought you guys were just getting ****ed off.</p>
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Tell us what happened when they did that with Ma Bell.
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<p>Long story short - can you imagine a world in which "Ma Bell" (AT&T) controlled local telephone, internet AND wireless?</p>
<p>Just think about all of the wireless companies competing for your business today. There would be no incentive to innovate. VOIP would be a pipedream.</p>
<p>If we've learned anything in business it's that competition is a good thing. Competition drives innovation. Competition levels the playing field. Competition weeds out the weak, the slow, the lazy. In a competitive world, it's the survival of the fittest, and, most importantly, the consumers win.</p>
<p>As to ExxonMobile and a potential break-up... does anyone here think that would happen in a million years under the current administration in the White House?</p>
<p>Blink do you kiss your mother with that mouth?</p>
<p>prestige describe the story behind "Barbarians at the Gate"</p>
<p>Interesting that you bring up competition and how it weeds out the weak. I thought you were a socialist.</p>
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Interesting that you bring up competition and how it weeds out the weak. I thought you were a socialist.
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<p>LOL!!! </p>
<p>I've got a Wharton MBA and spent over a decade working at two "bulge bracket" investment banks on Wall St.... if that qualifies me as a socialist, i'd hate to see what a true capitalist looks like...</p>
<p>Could have fooled me!</p>
<p>the_prestige, I've noticed the baby bells are starting to merge back together. Same with the oil cos. In fact, here's a funny anecdote about it:</p>
<p>As you all may know, BellSouth Mobility and a few other wireless companies merged together to make Cingular Wireless, owned by BellSouth Communications and SBC (now AT&T). Then, Cingular went on to buy AT&T wireless, again owned by SBC (now AT&T) and Cingular Wireless. Now, AT&T (formerly SBC) is buying BellSouth and will own 100% of Cingular. How long until Cingular is renamed AT&T Wireless?</p>
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As you all may know, BellSouth Mobility and a few other wireless companies merged together to make Cingular Wireless, owned by BellSouth Communications and SBC (now AT&T). Then, Cingular went on to buy AT&T wireless, again owned by SBC (now AT&T) and Cingular Wireless. Now, AT&T (formerly SBC) is buying BellSouth and will own 100% of Cingular. How long until Cingular is renamed AT&T Wireless?
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<p>Agreed that consolidation is taking place in the wireless space - BUT - that has only happened after a period of intense competition and innovation - things that would never have happened if the break-up never happened in the first place.</p>
<p>Even so, you've still got a healthy number of companies competing for your mobile business to this very day: (Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Cingular, etc.) - in the end, the consumer wins.</p>
<p>The other point is that AT&T looks nothing like it did prior to the big break-up. Business lines have changed, focus, investment, etc. have all radically changed. This is due to market mechanics and the market choosing the ultimate winners and losers. AT&T isn't what it used to be and that is a great thing - it's emerging as a smarter, more efficient, more consumer focused business entity - hardly comparable to the monolithic version pre-breakup.</p>
<p>That actually wasn't a debate so much as a funny anecdote. It just tickles me that AT&T is metaphorically "eating itself" with all these mergers.</p>