AT&T

Paper Summary:

The paper shows that although the federal government and " far more importantly the consumer " may not like a monopoly, large companies have many advantages and so tend to keep reemerging. The author discusses how the entire world of telecommunications " and certainly the history of AT&T itself " would no doubt have been written very differently if the United States government had not twice intervened in the workings of the company. This paper examines the role of the Federal Communications Commission in breaking up AT&T and what have been the consequences both to consumers and to the technology of the industry as a result.

From the Paper:

"AT&T's self-imposed dismantling (at least to some extent self-imposed, for company officials did originate the plan to spin off the Baby Bells) was the largest corporate breakup in history. It provided both legal and cultural precedents for the lawsuit against Microsoft that the federal government is engaged in currently.

"The fact that the company was able each time to recover so quickly merely demonstrates the need for the Federal Communications Commission oversight of this industry. The world today runs on information, and none of us can afford to have that flow of information limited or held hostage by the monopolistic practices of any single company."

More papers on AT&T:

• Essay # 69920 : "AT&T"
• Essay # 73151 : "Acquisition of Telecorp by AT&T"
• Business Plan # 88458 : "AT&T and TDMA Technology"
• Business Plan # 84654 : "AT&T: Twenty Years of Change"

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