ns Inc. (TCI); began a global venture with BT; bought the IBM global services network for IP; and expanded its wireless reach with Vanguard Cellular. Also in February of this year AT&T announced a joint venture with Time Warner Inc. that allows it to enter the local-service market via cable in 33 states. AT&T is also experiencing a metamorphosis of its corporate culture which is allowing more free flow thinking from all employees. MCI WorldCom sells a click and talk Web-based voice service for enterprises with e-commerce sites which allows customer service reps to talk to buyers over the IP connection while shopping online. MCI WorldCom has also been on the mergers and acquisitions path in order to meet this new challenge. The Big Three have aggressively been working on this new market and the outcome has yet to be seen. With lower barriers to entry than in the traditional communications networks, they face many new entrants in this battle.Regional Bell Companies (RBOC’s): The regional Bell Companies have a vested interest in this area as the Internet replaces the private networks in which they have such heavy investments. It takes nearly 8 years for PSTN capacity to double. The Internet doubles capacity every 18 months. This is strong motivation for the regional Bells to preserve their investments. The smart regional Bell companies are already putting new strategies in place. US West is relying on its nationwide XDSL rollout. This program will combine US West’s voice and data customers by replacing a $30 dollar a month voice customer with a $60 dollar a month high speed Internet and voice customer. It treats voice as an Internet service.Bell Atlantic is also working on its’ plans. It is looking to provide services similar to that of US West. These regional carriers are however limited to their own calling territories as per FCC regulations until they can show that they have local competitors. Many c...
