The incest in the Bell family is getting a little out of control, but we're gonna try and break it down for you, being
that news just hit the wires that AT&T is buying BellSouth for 67 billion. (Before we get started, we might
recommend you hit up
The Engadget
Guide to AT&T Wireless/Cingular/SBC/AT&T merger mania we wrote last year.) So AT&T (
formerly SBC, formerly AT&T), is
buying one of the last two un-amalgamated missing links in the Ma Bell puzzle, BellSouth (the other being Qwest). As
you may recall,
BellSouth, one of the original 7 baby bells,
also owns 40% of Cingular (complementing the 60% once owned by
SBC,
which is now called AT&T). Thus this sale would effectively transfer ownership of the nation's largest wireless
carrier to AT&T. Now, to give this a little context: the only other baby bells left outside the AT&T umbrella
in one form or another is Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic, which merged with Nynex and GTE) and Qwest (which absorbed
US West), neither of which will likely be comin' home to mama. So there you have it, if the SEC approves AT&T's
purchase of BellSouth, we once again more or less return to the AT&T of 1984, 'cept now with a little more
competition in the backbone and wireless services space. See, with a little of our help you'll know for whom the bell
tolls; the bell tolls for Ma.
P.S. -Upon closer inspection of their press release, it might seem as though
they'll be bringing Cingular under the AT&T brand after all, stating that the merger will "strengthen Cingular
through unified ownership and a single brand," and that "simplifying the ownership structure will lead to...a
single AT&T brand." Yes, this even though it'd be flying in the face of AT&T's previous statements about
keeping Cingular, well, Cingular. Whereas they seem pretty clear about this, we have a feeling all will be revealed
tomorrow morning at their webcast press conference at 10:00AM EST.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nancy Stewart @ Mar 5th 2006 11:06PM
I can't believe they're going BACK to the ATT Wireless name. I think that's a poor business move.
joe @ Mar 5th 2006 11:08PM
Qwest is also a Baby Bell.
Jordan @ Mar 5th 2006 11:13PM
I think that it's awesome.
AT&T
AT&T Wireless
Simple. It isn't decreasing competition in my opinion. BellSouth and AT&T (formerly SBC) worked together towards a common goal as it was, so why not just simplify and reduce redundancies? Makes a more consolidated, better running company that can afford to put up a few more TOWERS, HOPEFULLY. ;)
Mark Brewer @ Mar 5th 2006 11:14PM
My dad always said "the more things change the more they stay the same". Know I know what he ment.
Lou Nunez @ Mar 5th 2006 11:18PM
NOWAY. I dont care if the landline/network company is still called AT&T. Cingular should stay a separte brand. I dont know about the rest of you but in NYC AT&T wirelss is considered an awful brand and they will have to spend millions and millions of dollars to crawl back out of the hole. Just let Cingular continue to be a strong wireless company separte from the AT&T brand
fraeone @ Mar 5th 2006 11:27PM
I'm not usually one for mergers, but can't they buy Qwest (formerly US West) already? Their broadband prices are teh suck.
Chris @ Mar 5th 2006 11:29PM
Wow, almost 100 billion dollars, and nothing much will change either.
Ryan @ Mar 5th 2006 11:41PM
Finally. I have been waiting on this ever since Cingular was created. Maybe BellSouth's big head will be gone and prices will go down.
Tim McLaughlin @ Mar 5th 2006 11:59PM
From your article, "Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic, which merged with Nynex and GTE) and Qwest (which absorbed US West),...." What happened to the recent merger with MCI, formally MCI Worldcom (which included UUNET, plus formally Brooks Fiber and Metropolitian Fiber Systems (MFS))
Nicholas @ Mar 5th 2006 11:59PM
Qwest is now owned by Verizon. Verizon aquired both qwest and mci about a month ago, maybe longer.
Justin @ Mar 6th 2006 12:24AM
Ah... to build on that previous comment, Cingular in NYC is STILL considered an awful brand. No reception indoors, unreliable EDGE, and so forth. Bleh.
veniex @ Mar 6th 2006 12:32AM
I dont really care about these mergers, its not like its going to improve serviece or anything.
Pro @ Mar 6th 2006 12:35AM
This is good tendebcy for end-users. The service will have to become better.
Scott @ Mar 6th 2006 12:43AM
Qwest (formerly U S West) is looking more and more like the red-headed stepchild no one wants.
I wish someone would buy them though as they don't have the resources to compete, and they are severely lacking in innovation.
Mikee Jonezz @ Mar 6th 2006 12:51AM
How is this merger good for anyone expect AT&T, doesn't this mean they can set industry standard prices and have almost no competition,? Definitely a slap in the face for the consumer. How is the SEC approving this...I don't get it at all...
Chris @ Mar 6th 2006 1:02AM
There is still "competition" all around despite this merger. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 forced the "baby Bells" to share allow CLECs to utilize the plant that Ma Bell built.
I knew this only a matter of time : http://www.mobilitysite.com/2006/01/the_future_of_telecommunications_in_amer.php
Crazyjamaican46 @ Mar 6th 2006 1:04AM
As a research interviewer for a company that does all the market research for Cingular and SBC (now AT&T) and Qwest lol, i hav to give it to yall. You guys put it in simple terms and make this so much easier to understand. The press releases and pat responces we get and that we give to our client's customers are worded well but are very confusing.
YM @ Mar 6th 2006 1:07AM
In the article, you said "...the only other non-baby bell left outside the AT&T umbrella in one form or another is Verizon ... and Qwest..."
I think you meant "baby bell", not "non-baby bell".
Jordan @ Mar 6th 2006 1:08AM
Justin - It really works that bad in NYC? I am curious because I'm travelling there in late July/early August. It is absolutely rock-solid here in rural areas, I'd be surprised to see it perform badly in urban areas. I guess I'll see in a few months..
Jake @ Mar 6th 2006 2:22AM
Are you flippin' kidding me...Ma Bell can't be recreated, The United States Supreme Court told them no more monopolies after 31 Dec 1984. If AT&T attempts a run at Qwest or Verizon, they can grab one but not the other, it's in the divesture papers.
Matt Bell @ Mar 6th 2006 2:54AM
incest?? :-(
Jon A. @ Mar 6th 2006 3:03AM
There is no way AT&T will get Verizon. I suspect a big battle between the two companies.
Only Cincinnati Bell and Qwest are left to gobble up for Verizon or AT&T. AT&T got a big boost with the purchase of Bellsouth.
Verizon = Nynex and Bell Atlantic
AT&T = Ameritech, Bellsouth, SBC, and Pacific Telesis
Felix @ Mar 6th 2006 5:40AM
I have a "legacy" AT&T Wireless account, which of course has been piggy-backing on the Cingular network for the past few years. I get 5 bars here almost all places across Manhattan. Check some place like howardforums to see if your phone's antenna is just poor.
TZK @ Mar 6th 2006 6:22AM
You guys should incpect the press release closer before you post :)
Finished.Law.School @ Mar 6th 2006 6:57AM
Now if they could only bring back AT&T Wireless calling plans because Cingular sucks ass.
shizz @ Mar 6th 2006 7:34AM
Uhh, I thought Cingular was in control...
standard @ Mar 6th 2006 8:09AM
what happens to net neutrality now that ma bell is being reconstituted
Diego @ Mar 6th 2006 8:54AM
So now we have a definitive milestone: the point where the dinosaurs realized it was snowing.
This is good news for the VoIP/WiMax/etc. folks.
Anyone thinking this merger is going to improve the networks, bring prices down, or catch us with Korea, well, it's time to practice your coping skills.
christopher @ Mar 6th 2006 9:05AM
#19: are you high? you're going to tell me you read "the divestiture papers"? it's called a consent decree, and it's been dissolved. AT&T is free to buy anything it can afford within the constraints of anti-trust review.
This isn't good for consumers. An unregulated monopoly to your door is never a good idea. Think about this for a second: how many of you can choose your cable operator? How many of you can choose your local telco provider, with one bill (i.e. no checks to multiple providers)?
When I can choose from Comcast, Cablevision, Adelphia, etc when in Newark, NJ then we'll see a deregulated, consumer-driven set of choices. You know, like cellular. Which is soon going to be squeezed by this move.
Start writing to the FCC now.
-C
Chris @ Mar 6th 2006 9:32AM
I have to second and/or third the comments regarding AT&T's image problem, both in Texas and California. A simple name change is enough to scare me over to the Sprint or Verizon network.
Not only was reception bad but the customer service people (who I was always on the phone with) were border-line abusive.
As an AT&T customer I looked forward to the day when Cingular bought me. It was akin to getting to go live with a more loving family. I'm not going back into that abusive relationship.
DJ @ Mar 6th 2006 9:44AM
Supposedly, AT&T Wireless is NOT one of the names under consideration. Some of the names rumored are just plain "AT&T", AT&T Mobile, AT&T/Cingular, and AT&T World.
Helen Casper @ Mar 6th 2006 10:12AM
Argh- I was an AT&T wireless customer before the Cingular merger. My husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) got AT&T wireless just so we'd have unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling. After the merger, I got a new phone so they put me on Cingular but he stayed on AT&T wireless technically. So we have bizarre disparities in our services (i.e. we'll be standing next to each other and he'll have No Service but I will have service) and I also had my old AT&T bill, that I paid before I switched, somehow go into collections because their system hadn't merged properly. Also after the merger, they somehow got my husband's last name entered wrong in their Cingular system. I absolutely do NOT want to go through all those headaches again!
wheelsee @ Mar 6th 2006 10:35AM
To all of those flipping out...this is not like the Cingular/ATT Wireless Merger of 2004...this is not the integration of billing systems this is simply a name change...now to the last post #31...it seems you are most likely in a place where Integration has not happened yet give it time two networks just don't join overnight and whoever did your migration from Blue(ATTWS) to Orange(Cingular) should have told you you would get one last bill for your last month of Blue Service and that the balance just does not get transferred, it all comes down to you also opening your bills and noting that these have two different account numbers going to two different addresses...
-wC
Bobby @ Mar 6th 2006 11:01AM
I'm still on a legacy ATT wireless plan here in NYC and had been on ATT wireless since '97. I had
4-5 bars in about 90% of the places in the tri-state area even back then and now after the Cingular merger the receptions even better (more towers!).
I would say it is on par with Verizon Wireless and much better than T-mobile and the other guys here in NYC.W orks solid for me.
Mo @ Mar 6th 2006 8:37PM
Through Prior telecommunications experience, Merging 2 networks is not only difficult but next to impossable without flaws. I do not look forward to the merger and HOPE that my residential service through BS does not get impacted. I work in telecomm and the company I work for just went through a merger themselves...A lot of hard work and several hundred long nights later the integration completed with only moderate issues. I pray BS and AT&T have worked out the details well in advance. Luckily thier systems are very similar and thier billing systems are pretty much the same. They did very little to change post MA'Bell.
Just my 2 cents
Take it, or leave it!
Stumpy @ Mar 6th 2006 8:56PM
I hope my pet monkey chews through all their cable pairs. Down with the man.. what about the mom and pop business that truly care about their customers and not the bottom line. prices will go up, service levels will go down.. when you call customer service, they will laugh at you and only consider the thought of resolving your problem.. next step.. outsource the telecom customer service to India... then life will be even better!
Jim Brady sr. @ Mar 6th 2006 10:50PM
I don't give a damm about the new name or the new service,but what will happen to my bellsouth pension and medical insurance !!!
Opus @ Mar 6th 2006 11:05PM
And now we know why they kept the "Death Star" logo all of these years.
Dean Papa @ Mar 8th 2006 12:17AM
In my opinion, the industry will level out to 3 main telecom providers. Cellular as a technology can't survive in the world we are heading into, actually the world that cellular created. 802.11 is the technology of the future. Even today you can use your skype account over wifi, bluetooth, or edge to make a call. Due to the expanding intelligence of devices within the networks, quality of service can be pushed down to these devices, allowing phones to use voip as it's primary method for communication.
The true business driver that will eliminate celluar is data. No matter what software upgrade, or smoke and mirror 3G product you introduce into a cellular market, there will never be enough bandwidth to support a stable, business class environment.
Wi-Max will be the technology of choice. You can consistently get 11M up and with Wi-Max and you can place the towers 5 to 10 miles apart. Now you can run all of your mission-critical applications in a mobile environment, and just like land-line voice is being converted to VOIP as we speak, cellular will fall closely behind it as just another packet on the network.
In my opinion, it just makes sense Ma Bell is back. Without them, who would be inventing and developing all of this technology that you enjoy today???
Brian G @ Nov 12th 2007 7:40PM
Informative. Thanks
Dean Papa @ Mar 8th 2006 12:17AM
In my opinion, the industry will level out to 3 main telecom providers. Cellular as a technology can't survive in the world we are heading into, actually the world that cellular created. 802.11 is the technology of the future. Even today you can use your skype account over wifi, bluetooth, or edge to make a call. Due to the expanding intelligence of devices within the networks, quality of service can be pushed down to these devices, allowing phones to use voip as it's primary method for communication.
The true business driver that will eliminate celluar is data. No matter what software upgrade, or smoke and mirror 3G product you introduce into a cellular market, there will never be enough bandwidth to support a stable, business class environment.
Wi-Max will be the technology of choice. You can consistently get 11M up and with Wi-Max and you can place the towers 5 to 10 miles apart. Now you can run all of your mission-critical applications in a mobile environment, and just like land-line voice is being converted to VOIP as we speak, cellular will fall closely behind it as just another packet on the network.
In my opinion, it just makes sense Ma Bell is back. Without them, who would be inventing and developing all of this technology that you enjoy today???
calikid1 @ Mar 15th 2006 10:30AM
well the merger or buyouts(however you prefer) is only going to cause more mergers/buyouts by the other larger companies. its not only wireless, but all the others that have to do with telecom. how long will this last is the question. the government has to allow it. how long will it be before it is too large? or is it already? i guess we will find out...