US/ND-3: Bell South
Bell South
Ken Hammer (ken.hammer@ConnRiver.net)
Thu, 12 Sep 96 12:22:13 -0500
>Marty Tennant said:
>How many people would be so ungrateful as to do what many people
>do in the long distance area? Cash the $100 check from AT&T and
>then go to someone else - or in this case the Internet equivalent.
>I'm sorry I'm so cynical about this, but the size of BellSouth that
>lets them do this is a powerful tool that can be use for long term
>good, or bad.
>What does the group think?
I don't like it. But I'm not among those who are critical of the
company for the action. Regulators are encouraging/allowing it as an
extension of government influence and power. The costs, as hidden
taxes, are being transferred to other rates with government blessing.
Additionally I think it's bad because it tends to embed a particular
technology, probably before its time. We will have an initial
dedication to, and embedded investments in, the technology which Bell
South implements. Those may be premature and ill-advised. Will we
abandon them later? Today there are substantial political efforts
toward "wheeling" of electric power as a great way to reduce consumer
bills. Often unsaid is the reality that that appeal to the consumer is
to be achieved by abandoning prior investments which were often
dictated by the regulatory environment.
I didn't like Apple's early "buying" of the loyalty of academics with
their earlier "gifts" which raised their prices. That was premature
adoption of gui long before it was affordable for substantial tasks.
I don't like Ben & Jerry charging obscene prices for ice cream so that
they can be "heros" in the "environmental" circuit and gain a lot of
free publicity from the naive in the media.
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