Readers Talk Back

Unfair Competition

Re: Video Hasn't Been Kind to Telcos

Dear Editors:

Good morning.

Regarding SBC and Hughes, both companies come from a tradition of 100-year monopolies, where one competes in their world by illegally going to D.C. to get the government to zap the competition.

Customer service has been the last of their concerns to these folks who think they are the government. They appear to feel one can use the "if we can't beat'em, we'll cheat'em" approach to life.

Alas, there are others on the planet -- e.g., Nokia -- that innovate. Should the folks in D.C. decide to enforce the law, we could see some innovation again back in the USA!

As Mel Brooks put it, "It's good to be the king. ..." (That is, until the axe falls.)

Robert W. Carter, Austin, Texas (Received Feb. 10, 2003)

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