SBC and AT&T, is the merger in the spirit of the telco act of '96?

The news of the big merger between SBC and AT&T will change the face of the information world. With the approval of Congress, the SBC/AT&T merger will create one of the largest teleco company in the United States. The baby-bell has grown up, and like a classic tragedy, the offspring has killed its parent. To me, the business world can be compared to nature, cut-throat tactics, anything goes and the bottom line is profits.

I just wonder if the huge mergers of the last six years or so are really what the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is all about. The telecom act was meant to increase competition and was supposed to help out the smaller, start-up telco companies in their respective regions. Yes I will agree that prices have come down with regards to internet, cellphone and telephone services, but has competition increased?

I can think of two companies that have survived, Verizon and Grande Communications. Yet those two still rely on the system that the Bell companies set up, hence you have AT&T and SBC merging which will create the most powerful information provider. SBC will control most of the switched network in existence in the U.S. What is the future of telco, will we turn back to the '70s and '80s when there was only a few telephone companies, or will congress finally enforce the telecom act of 1996 and allow for more competition.

Links:

CNN site with news.
BBC for an international flare.