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Riding
high on the wave of technological advances, tempted by the
idea of being able to provide telephone right under the nose
of incumbent bells without their assistance, AT&T went
ahead and acquired cable companies spending a mammoth $100
bn. But at the end of the day it felt shareholders would be
better off if this "broadband" business is spun
off.
Change
is the only thing that doesn't change. The world order is
an ever-changing phenomenon and the process has been accelerated
many folds with the technological revolution of our age. "The
digital age", as it is aptly described, has increased
the pace of human life beyond imagination. And in such an
age "communication" and "contact" becomes
one big lucrative business opportunity to the ever-hungry
corporate world.
The
merger of AT&T, one of the biggest telecommunication companies'
in the world popularly known in the US as the Ma Bell, with
Tele-Communications Inc (TCI), the second largest cable service
providers of the US was no little event. It signified a big
landmark event that was expected to change the way information
would be provided in the US. Through the merger AT&T wanted
to capture fully the potential uses of cable by filling the
empty space in cable wires with Internet Protocol Telephony,
high speed Internet access, and local telephony. The last,
in particular offered an opportunity it could not overlook. |
