OT: sbc merger (was internet phones)

[guy_templin]

I thought AT&T bought SBC see the following link

http://att.sbc.com/Common/files/doc/Merger_Fact_Sheet.doc

Guy Templin
Adelphi Kitchens, Inc.

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 21:21:58 -0400, Brian K. White wrote
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Schwartz (PC Support)" <mschw at athenet.net>
> To: <filepro-list at lists.celestial.com>
> Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 11:35 AM
> Subject: RE: OT: internet phones
> 
> >> On Fri, Apr 21, 2006, Fairlight wrote:
> >> >This public service announcement was brought to you by Mike Schwartz 
(PC
> >> >Support & Services, Appleton, WI):
> >> >>
> >> >>      SBC has been working with me over the past year or so.  We've
> >> tried
> >> >
> >> >Ah, so you're now being serviced by AT&T?  :(  Funny how they're 
getting
> >
> >     Yes, now that AT&T can legally bind up to it's old babies, it is 
doing
> > so.  The local phone guys kept me pretty well filled in as to what was 
> > going
> > on the past 10 years or so.
> >
> >     Several years ago, pre-merger, the local SBC office in Appleton had
> > purchased all the fiber optic cable and so forth in order to provide DSL 
> > to
> > the city and had the people standing by, ready to start installing it. 
> > Then
> > they entered this pre-merger era.  They sold off the DSL and optic cables
> > and stuff that were already sitting in their warehouse, then offered a 
lot
> > of their people early retirements, so they could look really profitable 
on
> > paper for a couple of years before the merger.
> >
> >     Then, right after the merger, they hired back all the people that had
> > accepted their early retirement bonuses.  They also had to buy back all 
> > the
> > fiber and DSL stuff they had just gotten rid of!
> >
> >     It was just about impossible to get a phone line installed around 
here
> > for several years and it delayed DSL service to much of Appleton for more
> > than 5 years.  All this was just to play financial games.
> >
> >     SBC did lose some business by doing this, though.  TDS Metrocom and
> > other phone companies made some business gains in the city because the 
few
> > remaining SBC phone installation guys were just too swamped to get 
> > anything
> > done.  It got so bad that I didn't even bother to call SBC when 
businesses
> > needed phone lines moved.  I told my customers to just call TDS right 
> > away,
> > unless they wanted to wait a couple of months to let SBC move the lines.
> 
> My friend has been working for sbc for a short while (year maybe)
>  and is dealing with the merger now. Apparently at least on paper 
> sbc bought at&t, though sbc had 2 data centers in the US and at&t 
> had 18 scattered around the world. They just handed him all new 
> different job, responsibilities, boss, co-workers... He's now 
> supporting solaris/aix/linux machines in all 20 data centers, though 
> he may never set foot in any of them. He agreed with all of the 
> above Mike just described too.
> 
> Brian K. White  --  brian at aljex.com  --  http://www.aljex.com/bkw/
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> 
> Brian K. White  --  brian at aljex.com  --  http://www.aljex.com/bkw/
> +++++[>+++[>+++++>+++++++<<-]<-]>>+.>.+++++.+++++++.-.[>+<---]>++.
> filePro  BBx    Linux  SCO  FreeBSD    #callahans  Satriani  Filk!
> 
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