Fortune 1000 Companies Say SBC/AT&T and Verizon/MCI Mergers Will Raise Prices, Reduce Innovation and Service Quality; University of Connecticut Survey Sponsored by ACTel Finds Significant Merger Concerns Among Enterprise Customers.WASHINGTON -- An independent survey conducted by the University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. Center for Survey Research and Analysis (CSRA CSRA Central Savannah River Area CSRA Center for Survey Research and Analysis (University of Connecticut) CSRA Canadian Street Rod Association CSRA Canadian Snowcross Racing Association CSRA Canadian Soccer Referees' Association ) and commissioned by the Alliance for Competition in Telecommunications (ACTel) finds that Fortune 1000 companies believe the proposed mergers of SBC/AT&T and Verizon/MCI will have a strong negative impact on pricing, innovation, quality of service, and levels of competition in the business telecom marketplace. The CSRA survey, "Views of The Proposed AT&T/SBC and MCI/Verizon Mergers: From the Perspective of Fortune 1000 AT&T and MCI (1) (Media Control Interface) A high-level programming interface from Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia devices. It provides commands and functions to open, play and close the device. (2) (Microwave Communications Inc. Customers," was conducted from July 21 to August 22, 2005. The goal of the survey was to candidly can·did adj. 1. Free from prejudice; impartial. 2. Characterized by openness and sincerity of expression; unreservedly straightforward: In private, I gave them my candid opinion. assess the attitudes of America's largest businesses on the impact of the proposed mergers. In a random sample, CSRA interviewed 100 telecom managers from the Fortune 1000. A key parameter was to target Fortune 1000 companies that currently use services from AT&T and MCI, and thus would be most affected the market's loss of AT&T and MCI as independent companies. Of the Fortune 1000 companies interviewed, 79% were AT&T customers and 49% were MCI customers. "Fortune 1000 companies are seriously concerned about the impact of the mergers on rates, innovation and service quality," said Heather Gold, Senior Vice President of Government Relations at XO Communications XO Communications is a United States telecommunications firm and one of the largest Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) in the country. It is owned by XO Holdings, Inc OTCBB: XOHO. , a member of ACTel. "The most damning aspect of the survey findings is that these fears are expressed by AT&T's and MCI's own customers. This should be a wakeup call Wakeup Call is a morning radio program produced in New York City by the WBAI station of the Pacifica Radio Network. The program is hosted by Deepa Fernandes and airs Monday through Friday. for policymakers - The marketplace is not happy with these mergers." Highlights of the CSRA Survey --The Fortune 1000 are keenly aware of the proposed mergers and government review. Nearly all respondents (95%) are aware of the proposed mergers of SBC/AT&T and Verizon/MCI, and a similar number (92%) know that the government is now reviewing the mergers. --The Fortune 1000 value the benefits of a competitive telecom market. 85% of respondents said that increased telecom competition has been very beneficial to their companies. --Most of the Fortune 1000 see themselves as worse off after the mergers. By a two to one margin those companies that have an opinion about the proposed mergers believe they will be worse off after the mergers go through. Two-thirds say that rates, innovation and service levels are better now than they would be if the mergers are approved. --Levels of concern are high. The Fortune 1000's assessment of the mergers is serious enough that roughly two-thirds of telecom managers who are customers of AT&T and/or MCI express concerns about the mergers. 62% express concern about rising rates; 61% express concern about deteriorating de·te·ri·o·rate v. de·te·ri·o·rat·ed, de·te·ri·o·rat·ing, de·te·ri·o·rates v.tr. To diminish or impair in quality, character, or value: quality; and 67% are concerned about the decrease in competition resulting from the mergers. "Based on what our own customers tell us, and on our detailed econometric e·con·o·met·rics n. (used with a sing. verb) Application of mathematical and statistical techniques to economics in the study of problems, the analysis of data, and the development and testing of theories and models. studies, ACTel has long known that the proposed mergers are bad for the business community," said XO's Heather Gold. "The CSRA survey is the first-ever independent research of enterprise business attitudes toward the mergers. The survey results conclusively con·clu·sive adj. Serving to put an end to doubt, question, or uncertainty; decisive. See Synonyms at decisive. con·clu  sive·ly adv. show that the concerns of America's largest companies about the proposed SBC/AT&T and Verizon/MCI mergers mirror those of ACTel." Copies of the CSRA survey are available at www.allianceforcompetition.com. About ACTel The Alliance for Competition in Telecommunications (ACTel) represents leading providers of competitive communications services and IT solution providers that have joined together to challenge the mergers of SBC/AT&T and Verizon/MCI, which if consummated con·sum·mate tr.v. con·sum·mat·ed, con·sum·mat·ing, con·sum·mates 1. a. To bring to completion or fruition; conclude: consummate a business transaction. b. as proposed will create significant harms to the public interest - reducing choice, elevating costs to customers, and slowing innovation. Information on ACTel is available at www.allianceforcompetition.com. |
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