Of all the theories, the ones covering region consolidation have the most legs. There are certain sensibilities in some of the consolidations mentioned and other speculation appears to have merit due to other announcements and activity previously thought to be unrelated. In Feb we had a warning that the company was going to drastically change, but the reality hadn't soaked in fully until this summer. While VZW enjoyed a fat margin due to wireline infrastructure, friendly back-haul agreements on it, and the ability to finance a superior final network build out, the subscribers came and gladly paid the premium. The good times appeared to be a forever thing. Then as the industry fully matured, growth flattened, and competitive differences narrowed, the inevitable pricing war started, eating into the margin. Then the ill-advised Vodaphone buyout REALLY accelerated the process. The party ended when the $60B outstanding bar tab came due. The transformations have been in progress for awhile, they were merely perfecting the art of the non-layoff workforce reduction. It's only going to be more of the same. Remember the story of the frog in the pot? It's been a slow boil to get to this point. Unfortunately, a lot of good people just trying to do their job and not looking much beyond that are the frogs getting cooked this time.
5 replies (most recent on top)
Just because it's eloquent, doesn't mean it isn't true. Everything in the original post has come true.
I like frog stew
How do you explain W winning, that chump could not string two sentences together?
Americans fall in love with good narration. That is why Clinton and Obama became presidents. If you tell these Anericans the facts directly, no one cares. They need to be told even the news as a story. Their media outlets forgot how news should be delivered. Instead of giving the facts straight, without casting into a opinion/bias, they always show their political/religious/propaganda. By the way, I too like the way the note was written above. :)
This is so well written, I almost believed it