IP: Giant phone companies will rule again, some say

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36589-2002Jul7.html

Telecom Sector May Find Past Is Its Future
Giant Phone Companies Offer Stable, Well-Funded Option

By Peter S. Goodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 8, 2002; Page A01


About 500,000 people have lost their jobs. Dozens of companies have gone
bankrupt. As much as half a trillion dollars in investments have evaporated.
An accounting scandal threatens to bring down WorldCom Inc. and federal
authorities are investigating the books of other former highfliers.

There is another casualty of the implosion of the telecommunications
industry: a grand vision of the future. The idea was that deregulation and
new technology would spawn a golden age of competition, energizing the
economy while bringing consumers and businesses a cornucopia of exciting
services and products.

Instead, many of those who just a few years ago bet big on this dream have
reluctantly reached a new conclusion: The future of consumer choice in phone
service may look an awful lot like the past.

<snip>

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