First wedding of Baby Bells has many eyes on their siblings … Ameritech sees no value in mergers … BellSouth says plans unchanged in wake of SBC-PacTel deal … U S West not seen bidding for PacTel … SBC-PacTel deal whets industry appetite for more … SBC-PacTel merger is likely to ring in an era of alliances among Baby Bells … and the headlines continued …
Newspaper reporters dream about reporting stories like this one.
Many analysts and investors have been quick to say that the merger of SBC Communications Inc. and Pacific Telesis Group will trigger further alliances and in a hurry. Maybe yes. Maybe no. Some of the remaining five Baby Bells admit to discussing potential alliances while others are vocally against such ideas.
Ameritech said, “We do not see any value creation for our shareholders in merging with other telecommunications companies.”
BellSouth explained that its strategy will remain unchanged, continuing to focus on wireless, international sales and local service.
U S West has been predicted to join SBC-PacTel or BellSouth but a commonly sited hindrance for the company is its sprawling and difficult-to-maintain region which might not be very desirable to a potential partner. U S West’s marketing agreement with AirTouch-PacTel’s former cellular business-would complicate any agreement with PacTel.
Finally we have the yet unconfirmed merger between Nynex Corp. and Bell Atlantic Corp. The two have combined their cellular businesses but a full-blown merger between the pair seems to be hung up on price.
Will U S West dump AirTouch and join SBC-PacTel to take over the western half of the United States? Will Bell Atlantic and Nynex come to an agreement and come out of the closet with their relationship? Are Ameritech and BellSouth involved in some secret alliance while they publicly declare their independence? Tune in next week to find out.
What I would speculate is that somewhere, someone (or some group) is sitting around surveying the scene, smiling and enjoying the media frenzy. Someone with a grand plan and the power to carry it out. The whole thing probably reeks of monopoly and control and omnipotence. The SBC-PacTel deal might be just the shreds of a larger plan to create one entity to go head to head with AT&T and maybe eventually join AT&T and then maybe to joi … a … the utility companies, yeah! That’s it! And then they will join with …
Is Oliver Stone in the house?
