Another voice

It seems there’s no shortage of opinion, no lack of colorful figures and seemingly no end to intrigue in the continuing saga of the Federal Communications Commission’s consideration of the $79 billion merger between AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp.
It’ll be a darn shame when this thing ends, if it ever does. Regardless of the outcome, assuming there is one, there’ll be brow-beating congressional hearings by Democrats who’ll run the show on Capitol Hill for the next couple years. Lawsuits will fly. The same buzz words and phrases will continue to define the controversy: merger conditions, special access lines, wireless broadband spectrum, network neutrality and, of course, recusal.
Who will be the fall-out boy of 2007? Inquiring minds want to know. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, for not agreeing to more concessions from AT&T and asking the agency’s top lawyer to fix the recusal mess involving fellow Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell? FCC General Counsel Sam Feder, for authorizing McDowell to participate in the commission’s examination of the AT&T-BellSouth deal and doing so before responding to queries from the incoming Democratic chairmen of the House Commerce Committee and telecom subcommittee? Or will the prize go to McDowell himself, regardless of what he does or doesn’t do next. Lucky him.
An employee of Cingular Wireless L.L.C., which would be owned lock, stock and barrel by AT&T if the merger clears its last big hurdle, e-mailed me with a question I hadn’t heard addressed much in public discourse. “I just want to know how many thousands of jobs AT&T plans to cut if/when this deal goes through?” asked the wireless worker. It was the oft-overlooked human face of mega mergers he was talking about.
“There have been strong rumors circulating that AT&T will absorb the wireless company into its own infrastructure and streamline operations even more than they already are,” the Cingular employee stated. “As a result, we would be working side by side with our landline counterparts and that can mean nothing but a severe workforce reduction throughout the company. It’s hard enough these days to envision a long and prosperous career without all the mergers taking place. Combine that with the tens of thousands of work visas that are issued throughout telecom sector and we Americans don’t have that warm and fuzzy feeling of longevity we should. .When will it end? How much money and territory can they possibly want? Executives receive bonuses in the millions and we get nothing but rising costs for health care and the fear of losing our jobs. Some way, some day, this has to stop!”
Don’t count on it.