BellSouth Holding Call Center Hostage Over Muni Fiber

from the ridiculous dept

Fri, Feb 25th 2005 12:33pm — Mike Masnick

With so many different muni-broadband battles going on, it's difficult to follow them all, but some of them are just getting ridiculous. The effort in Louisiana to offer muni-backed fiber is getting plenty of attention, mainly for the effort BellSouth is going through to block it. Once again, if they only put so much effort into providing broadband, it wouldn't be an issue at all. However, the latest, according to Broadband Reports is that BellSouth is holding a Cingular call center hostage -- saying if the muni-fiber project moves forward, they'll close down the call center, and pull 1,300 jobs out of Louisiana. This is getting petty. If there was true competition, this wouldn't be an issue. BellSouth is acting childish because it wants to have a government protected monopoly.

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Bithead, 25 Feb 2005 @ 1:53pm

Muni run broadband?
Aparently the irony of calling for Muni run service so that a company can't have a government provided monooly has gone right by you.
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- Mike (profile), 25 Feb 2005 @ 1:59pm
  
  Re: Muni run broadband?
  Actually, I think it's the other way around. I do see the irony... but he irony is in these "private" companies that have government provide monopolies complaining when those gov'ts want to compete.
  
  The gov't in this case doesn't want a monopoly. They want to compete. That's quite different.
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Alan, 25 Feb 2005 @ 2:02pm

Muni Broadband
I don't know why SWB is worried in the first place. Since when have government agencies at any level been able to run thing efficiently?
If there is a way to make people wait in long lines for broadband access then a municipality is certain to find it. Let's just hope they don't put the DMV in charge of photo editing :)
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