At & T Inc. Essay

If they are able to maintain the loyalty of most of their current customers, the companies will then have a shared amount of about 100 million customers. This potential customer volume for the merging companies would greatly outnumber the customer volume of the industry leaders, AT&T and Verizon. This kind of turnout would create greater competition between the two merging companies and the two leading companies (Sprint Wireless News, 2014). Although the outcomes seem promising for Sprint and T-Mobile, there are also potential negative effects of a merger that the companies should take into consideration. Current Sprint and T-Mobile customers have expressed their fear of the possible merger for multiple reasons. The two biggest worries for telecommunication services consumers is the potential for rising costs and a reduction in provider options (John, 2016). In making a final decision, the companies, as well as the Federal Communications Commission, should weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a

Federal Communications Commission, otherwise known as the FCC, voted two-to-one in May of 2017, to begin the tearing down of the net neutrality law (Rushe), that which protected individuals from companies that purposefully slowed down service lanes so as to regulate what was being broadcasted across computers. Chief internet official Ajit Pai at the FCC stated that he believed that the dismantling of the net neutrality laws could pave the way for a more competitive marketplace, that which would “lift ‘heavy-handed’ internet regulations that overly restricted internet providers” (White). The repealing of net neutrality seems to mainly garner approval from big companies, such as Verizon, and more recently, Comcast, companies that would do well by the repealing of such a law. With net neutrality gone companies such as those listed above would be able to, legally, regulate and control what people saw on the internet by slowing down or speeding up lanes depending on the affiliation the company has with that specific website (Finley). However, even with Title II in effect, some companies have found a way to circumvent those rules in order to ‘play favorites’ as it were. For instance, when AT&T customers access the Direct TV’s streaming service they may find that the data extrapolated from the service used did not count towards their current data limit’s (Finley). It is also believed that with no regulations in place regarding net neutrality, companies have the potential of becoming dictators and blocking

AT&T recently acquired DirecTV after the latter’s shareholders voted to endorse the acquisition or merger. The acquisition was first endorsed by the boards of these companies in May 2014 before being subjected to a review by anti-trust regulators in the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission (England-Nelson, 2014). The approval of the acquisition would result in the merger of the country’s largest wireless carrier with the biggest satellite TV provider in the country. The merger between these two firms is geared towards creation of a leading content provider across various platforms i.e. video, mobile, and broadband services. However, the acquisition was influenced by various factors and is associated with several significant effects in light of the organizational structure.

The anticipation of the Federal Communication Commissions 2014 meeting to review media ownership looms as 2013 approaches. With all the angst of a presidential election, the proverbial line in the sand has been drawn. On one side consumer groups vie for support to restrict ownership and on the opposing side are the media industries and its conglomerates opposing limitations and demanding deregulation. According to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC is required to meet every 4 years to review ownership rules to verify whether or not the media ownership rules are in the public interest.

SGMT  6050  –  Case  Write-­‐Up   McCaw   Cellular  Communications:  The  AT&T/McCaw  Merger   Negotiation     Armin  Ezatagha     Student  Number  ⏐  205  576  707   eMail  ⏐  aezatagha12@schulich.yorku.ca     Schulich  School  of  Business   Tuesday,  March  05,  2013                                 Current  Telecommunications  Ecosystem     McCaw  Cellular  Communications  (MCC),  although  positioned

The Act will prevent a single broadcast group owner from dominating the national media market (The American Presidency Project, 2016).” The problem with this statement is that in today’s society this is not true. Currently, 90 percent of the media is owned by just six companies: Viacom, News Corporation, CBS, Comcast, Disney, and Time Warner (Corcoran, 2016). These six companies shape global political views and cover Presidential elections in America. AT&T whom which currently owns Directv has now purchased Time Warner Inc. (De la Merced, 2016). This purchase is still pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the United States Department of Justice (James, 2017). AT&T would own HBO, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Turner Classic Movies, TNT, TBS, Tru TV, SNY, Peachtree TV, and The CW. AT&T would sell cable service and own cable content. The interesting thing about AT&T is that they were the sole provider of telephone service in the United States. An anti-trust lawsuit broke up the Bell system phone companies to relinquish the monopoly that AT&T had on phone service (New America, 2010).

The case mentions that there is already an emergence of competitive threat from “TV Everywhere” and even though CEO, Jason Kilar discounts the effect on Hulu, the new entrant is

Our case study titled, The AT&T and McCaw merger negotiation, provides us with an opportunity to negotiate the terms of the merger between McCaw cellular and AT&T. McCaw was the largest competitor in the rapidly growing cellular telephone communications industry. AT&T was the dominant competitor in long-distance telephone communications in the United States, and one of the largest corporations. Prior to the negotiations, it had no position in cellular communications.

Through this idea of “growth” and collaboration with other industries to provide optimal service, Verizon has expanded its products and services in the following areas:

Verizon Communications formed by the merger of two big and successful companies, Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp., is the largest telecommunication company. The company serves large part of the market in United States. However the company faces certain strengths and weaknesses which affect the way company formulate its strategies.

Over the past decade, significant changes in regulations, advances in technology, and shifts in competitive dynamics began transforming the cable industry. Companies within the industry were forced to adapt by acquiring economies of scale and scope. American Cable Communication was seeking to acquire AirThread Connections for three reasons. The two companies could help each other become more competitive in an industry that is moving toward bundled package service offerings. The acquisition would help both companies expand into the business market, and lastly American Cable was in a unique position to add value to AirThread’s operations. They could obtain a significant amount of

The Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the "Communications Act"), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations and policies also significantly impact Comcast’s decision on the company's businesses, including cable system and broadcast station ownership, video services customer rates, carriage of broadcast television stations, broadcast programming content and advertising, package of programming to customers and other providers, access to cable system channels by franchising authorities and other parties, the use of utility poles and conduits, and the offering of high-speed internet and phone services (Marketline, 2013). Failure of Comcast's businesses to comply with the laws and regulations may result in administrative enforcement actions, fines and civil and criminal liability. In as much that laws, policies and regulations are much stricter in the U.S. this would present significant risks to the company's businesses which may affect its operating

Firstly, the antitrust lawsuit followed by a sudden divestiture could cause uncertainties towards the company’s future and might change the shareholders perception of AT&T in an unfortunate way.

The General Electric (GE) and Honeywell International (HI) case illustrates the complexities of structuring mergers and acquisitions when the combined firms are capable of exerting market influence that threatens the competitive landscape. While General Electric's CEO, Jack Welch, characterized the deal as, "This is the cleanest deal you'll ever see," European anti-trust regulators were not so inclined to view the transaction as harmless to competition (Elliot, 2001).

Recently, Time Warner collaborated with other media companies by acquiring a small percentage of Hulu, in an effort to sustain a future in the new trend of online streaming services. TW invested a hefty $583 million cash stake, joining forces with other media giants Comcast, Walt Disney, and 21st Century Fox. The timing is the reaction Time Warner is making to the onset of major competitors on the horizon such as Netflix and Amazon, and they have a long way to go to catch up. The timing was also based on Hulu’s need for big capital to stay afloat. They were on the verge of suffering a crippling $500 million loss, which the funding from TW alone saved them from. As stated by Time Warner’s CEO, Jeff Bewkes, “Our investment in Hulu underscores Time Warner’s commitment to supporting and developing new platforms for the delivery of high-quality content and great consumer experiences to audiences around the globe,”.