March 6, 2006

What Does AT&T Mean for Small Businesses

You've heard, as I have that AT&T is buying Bell South for $67 billion in stock plus the assumption of about $22 billion in debt. Many opponents of the plan fear that consolidation will stop the decline of telecommunication prices. They could be right.

However, my feeling is that there is SO MUCH competition from VOIP providers that AT&T will at the very least try to HOLD prices but won't but will not be able to hold them for long as prices will go down.

It is WAY to early to know if this deal is GOOD for small businesses or not.

If AT&T plays its cards right, it can leverage its network to be a POWERFUL force to provide compelling services and prices to small businesses.

If it screws up, (it is VERY hard to make a seamless offering from such a large company built on many pieces), at best we'll simply see an attempt at integration but the true result will be double entry of account numbers into customer service lines for example, even months after the merger goes through, for example.

Read more on the merger at USA Today

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