Posted on 10/22/2016 1:35:59 PM PDT by vette6387
It's the NY Slimes so only source URL is provided.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It’s not belief it’s TRUTH. They got to catch up to us because we stopped being the driving force in phone technology. THAT was the benefit of AT&T. One single company given the monumental task of proving a massive and highly populated nation with the phone service it needed needed to constantly push the technology and had the resources to do it. Baby Bells had neither the money nor the need. So we stopped driving. Which let Europe catch up, and then pass us.
“Should be a good matchup while it lasts - both have lousy customer service.”
And AT&T also has DirecTV so we can look forward to it’s going into the dumper too. Everything AT&T touches turns to $hit, including their customers. My goal for 2017 it to rid myself and my business completely of any AT&T product or service. I could tell you about my experience with them providing analog lines to my fire protection system, but the words I would have to use would get me banned from FR.
In a national system they would have upgraded you to fiber because it’s a good idea.
Sorry -- that's not going to work for me. Our lives are filled with "good ideas" that cost a lot of money and simply aren't worth it by any objective measure.
I do some work with the railroad industry, and I use it as a case study whenever issues involving public utilities, private companies, and network-oriented infrastructure come up. The railroad business would be a good model to use when dealing with these questions, and on that basis I think the "public utility" approach would be a disaster.
But the switch to fiber IS worth it by an objective measure. A better, more reliable, higher bandwidth phone system IS worth it. The problem, from a phone company perspective, is that revenue is basically inflexible. The phone company is going to make the same amount of money on that region regardless of the quality of service they provide.
Sure look at the railroad business, and remember how and why it exists. We as a country realized we needed a national rail system and paid an arm and a leg to get it. And it was great all the way up until we stopped thinking it was important (ie alternatives came to be) and now the system sucks. Had we waited until alternatives were in place to stop feeding the phone system that would be fine. But we didn’t. And frankly it’s still not there, as much as we like to tout the internet as the all creature an amazing amount of the internet is going over that phone company backbone. Backbone that is not corporately profitable to improve, but that is desperately in need of improvement.
Well.. you know.. there is a field listed for “author”..
You yourself put info there that listed yourself as the author.
I didn’t do it. FR didn’t do it.
You did it.
Why lie? Want attention?
Well, you’ve got it. Like it?
AT&T is all consuming alright, but I have to say I’ve had multiple accounts with several of their products, cell, 800 number, I was already with DirectTV so they got that one too. They have treated me better than any other company that provides similar service.
Just sayin’
“I didn’t do it. FR didn’t do it.
You did it.
Why lie? Want attention?
Well, you’ve got it. Like it?”
Hey bunghole, I said I made a mistake. Put down your bong and go play on the freeway you ding-a-ling! You show the world why there are more horses a$$es than horses!
The value of this deal really depends on how the acquisition is structured.
Too much more debt is not a good thing, prompting rating downgrade and possibly a dividend cut.
Too much share dilution is not a good thing, taking share price lower and possibly a dividend cut.
Either way dividend growth investors are not going to be happy.
“They have treated me better than any other company that provides similar service.”
That has not been my experience. And FWIW, nearly all of their competitors are just like them, so it’s hard to make a valued comparison because you are comparing crap to crap! Why don’t you ask them why they give DID service to off-shore telemarketers who violate our do not call law, and then “offer” to sell you a caller ID product that doesn’t allow you to block offending numbers. The are like the guys who would pitch a bunch of pigs into a Mosque then follow that with a truckload of automatic weapons!
Wikileaks--10/22--Times Warner and Charter Merger in Podesta Emails--January 19, 2016
Wikileaks Podesta Emails ^ | October 22, 2016 | FR Posted by cgbg
From:john.podesta@gmail.com
To: ssolow@hillaryclinton.com
Date: 2016-01-19 16:04
Subject: Re: charter-time/warner
See no reason to have a view at this point. Don't think there is any pressure to oppose and make this another example of consolidation; on the other hand no upside in supporting. On Tuesday, January 19, 2016, Sara Solow wrote: > John, > > After you met with them -- I spent about an hour with the woman from > Charter hearing about the Time-Warner merger / their business model / their > policy requests. > > I'm curious what your impression was. > > I actually thought the business case for their merger was pretty > sympathetic. They offer a good product (minimum 60 meg download speeds!) > to virtually all rural consumers, and if the merger fails, they will go > under. Post-merger with Time Warner, the combined company would have about > 21% of the national market for broadband -- a fair amount, but not as big > as ATT-Direct TV. They don't overlap with Time Warner anywhere > currently. They spent $5 bn last year upgrading their networks to offer a > better product than the telcos - which they currently do. > > I also found it interesting that there hasnt been ANY congressional > hearing on > this. Skepticism much lower. > > The FCC is likely to rule in March, so we'll have to have a response by > then. > > Anyway, those were some of my impressions. > > Yours, > Sara >
=============================================
All of Podesta's email blatherings are hot air...... The sucker knew he was getting inside info on a merger----that's illegal. Having inside merger info can make someone filthy rich. Easy to find out who among the Clinton Class bought shares.
===========================================
HAT TIP WIKI---- Total assets Increase US$63.84 billion (2015)[2] Total equity Decrease US$23.61 billion (2015)[2]
Time Warner Inc. (TWI, also known as Time Warner, at one former interval named AOL Time Warner, stylized as TimeWarner since 2003) is an American multinational media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City.[5]
It is currently the world’s third largest television networks and filmed TV & entertainment company in terms of revenue (after Comcast and The Walt Disney Company), and at one time was the world’s largest media conglomerate.[6][7][8][9]
Time Warner was formed in 1990 through the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications. The current company consists largely of the assets of the former Warner Communications, as well as HBO (a Time Inc. subsidiary prior to the Warner merger) and the assets of Turner Broadcasting (acquired in 1996).
Time Warner currently has major operations in film and television, with a limited amount of publishing operations. Among its assets are New Line Cinema, Home Box Office, Turner Broadcasting System, The CW Television Network, Warner Bros., CNN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Adult Swim, DC Comics, Warner Bros. Animation, Castle Rock Entertainment, Cartoon Network Studios, Esporte Interativo, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and as of August 2016, it owns 10% of Hulu.[10]
In the past, other major divisions of Time Warner included Time Inc., AOL, Time Warner Cable, Warner Books, and Warner Music Group. All of these operations were either sold to other investors or spun off as independent companies between 2004 and 2014.
As of October 21, 2016, AT&T was reported to be in advanced talks to acquire Time Warner........W/ an 80 billion dollar bid.[11]
Their Direct/TV Now product is getting ready to debut...TV over the internet priced around $50. month with no contract and no additional equipment.
“Either way dividend growth investors are not going to be happy.”
I’d be very surprised if the management even cared about their investors.
No thanks. Ma Bell had no interest in technological change. Without deregulation, we’d probably still be using corded landlines and being charged 75 cents a minute to call grandma two hours away.
Thanks all for the info. I didn’t know the deal fell through.
No you didn't.
How do you like the attention you were looking for?
Tastes sweet, huh?
“because you are comparing crap to crap!”
Don’t agree. But even if the products are similar, say AT&T cell vs Verizon. What IS different in my experience is customer service. Comcast cable vs Direct? In my area these products aren’t even in the same ballpark. DIrect is hands down better in both product AND customer service. Still have to use Comcast for internet which IS CRAP! But as crap goes it’s slightly superior crap. Other AT&T business products like their 800 number. I have dropped for cheaper web based products, but while I had them where great and again. their customer service was fantastic.
YMMV
Ma Bell was constantly driving technology change. Bell Labs was one of the greatest sources of innovation on the planet.
That’s an expensive option to Netflix. As it stands now I can watch most of Directs programming on desk tops, phones and tablets. Never do though.
This statement doesn't make any sense logically. If a phone system is better, more reliable, and more robust, then customers ought to be willing to pay more for it. The fact that they aren't willing to pay more tells me that they don't agree that it is better. It's probably comparable to Ford putting an options package from a Lincoln Navigator in a Ford Focus. They aren't going to sell that tricked-out Focus for any more than their base model, because the typical buyer of a Focus isn't looking to buy all that anyway.
Go back and look at the history of the U.S. railroad industry again. It wasn't originally developed as a "national rail system" at all. That came later, and was really one of the untold reasons behind the Civil War (the Federal government had to usurp state regulatory authority in order for a railroad system to be constructed across the entire continent; it's no coincidence that Abraham Lincoln started his career as a railroad lawyer). And even then it was never really a "public utility" as we would understand that term today. It was privately owned and operated, for the most part.
It's also hardly the case that "the system sucks." The (privately owned) freight railroad system in the U.S. is the envy of the world, and has seen tremendous improvements in profitability and efficiency over the last 30-40 years. This was driven largely by a deregulation process that unfolded around the same time AT&T was being broken up.
It's the passenger rail system -- run mostly by government agencies under a "public utility" model similar to what you're recommending for telecommunications -- that truly DOES suck.
Yup, another mega-merger with nary a peep out of the SEC. This merger is predatory and monopolistic and would be easily knocked down on anti-trust grounds if the rule of law existed in this country anymore. I just shake my head when I hear the commie Dems talk about how bad the evil mega corporations are when it’s their policies enabled them.
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