by Andrew M. Brown and Kevin S. Dilallo
Two weeks ago, AT&T, the oldest and best known telecom carrier in the U.S. and possibly the world, leveraged its considerable regulatory weight to tip the competitive scale for 5G services away from rival T-Mobile (the current leader in 5G) and thus in its own direction. Obviously frustrated at its slow start out of the blocks (to mix metaphors), AT&T must feel the need to hobble T-Mobile's head start and ensure that T-Mobile cannot maintain its competitive lead in the race to 5G, by trying to prevent it from amassing large swaths of precious mid-band spectrum, the "gold coast" of spectrum suitable for
5G. While there is some merit to AT&T's approach, summarized below, it is ironic to witness the once mighty monopolist provider of telecom services resort to regulatory pressure to subvert a spunky, daring young rival.
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+_******************************************************************_+
+_ Youth-is-wasted-on-the-young department _+
+_ _+
+_ According to Wikipedia, Southwestern Bell Corporation _+
+_ acquired AT&T in 2005. The former "Baby Bell" wanted the _+
+_ brand name and its reputation, but not its old-world ways, _+
+_ and so, for practical purposes, "AT&T" has only been in _+
+_ business since that time. _+
+_ _+
+_ Mr. Brown and Mr. Dilallo seem to believe that AT&T is _+
+_ "the oldest and best known telecom carrier in the U.S. and _+
+_ possibly the world," a statement which makes me realize, _+
+_ with a bit of a shock, that they might not have been born _+
+_ when the Bell System was broken up. _+
+_ _+
+_ Bill Horne _+
+_ _+
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