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From: zap@savage.UUCP (Zap Savage)
Newsgroups: alt.sources,news.admin
Subject: Re: unido making commercial use of the net
Message-ID: <72@savage.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jul 89 20:41:52 GMT
References: <8442@killer.DALLAS.TX.US> <181@arnor.UUCP>
Reply-To: zap@savage.UUCP (Zap Savage)
Organization: Savage Research
Lines: 37

In article <181@arnor.UUCP> uri@arnor.UUCP (Uri Blumenthal) writes:
>From article <8442@killer.DALLAS.TX.US>, by wnp@killer.DALLAS.TX.US (Wolf Paul):
>> Yes, but AT&T is a private company, and the stroke of a judge's pen was
>> all that was needed in the end to break it up. The benefits of that are
>> questionable. However in Europe, the state monopoly on telecommunications
>Sorry, just couldn't keep silent. The benefits are questionable, you say?
>Do you REALLY mean that if the service we're getting now (when there's some
>competition) is rather poor - it would be better without ANY competition?
>Think again, please.

The service _I'm_ getting is fine.  I use ATT and Sprint, almost exclusively.
The service at my last job was about 70% of ATT's quality; they were using
some other, maybe Allnet, I forget.

I'm not an economist, legislator or competitor in the phone business.  IMHO,
I'm glad the competition is here but I'm sorry that they broke up ATT in the
process.  If that was the only way to allow the other companies to grow, ah
well.  ATT and affiliates, in competition with other electronics and
communications companies WORLDWIDE were making great strides in electronics.
The service in the areas of the US that I used a phone in were excellent.
I know some places like Texas have problems with line noise, but we didn't.
My point is that I don't agree that monopolies are inherently bad.  ATT was
as close to a benign monopoly that I've ever seen, including, of course, the
U.S. government.  I'm glad they used my parents' phone bills to help foot the
bill for the development costs of transistors, lasers and optic fibers, in
addition to the advances in network and satellite communications they created.

But I still want to know why I don't have a video phone on my desk! :-)

Zap
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| Zap Savage                                                                  |
| Savage Research "Where Quality Isn't Just A Word, It's A Noun"              |
|  "There are three possibilities: Pioneer's solar panel has turned away from |
| the sun; there's a large meteor blocking transmission; or someone loaded    |
| Star Trek 3.2 into our video processor."                                    |
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