🚀 go-pugleaf

After reading your distressing experiences, I wanted to say how sorry I am
to hear about what may be the opening salvo against entrepreneurs who have
taken a risk in daring to make more money with phone lines than the
telecom companies who provide the lines to them.

I know you are knee-deep in the battle for market share,and may not have
the time to consider a few speculations from a consumer, but I ask you to
save this post for future reference.

1. Follow The Money.  We have been told the history of the Internet, but
we tend to overlook one small detail:  where did the money come from to
create its parents in the first place?  Taxpayers (you, me, our parents,
etc.).  How did it transition from the federal agencies who were hired
custodians to the telecom companies who now 'own' it?  Inquiring minds
want to know...

2. Your friendly neighborhood drug dealer's 'business model' has been
successfully adapted by telecom companies.  What do I mean by that
statement?  Simply, that the same approach of getting people hooked on
Internet access (directly as MCI and AT&T have now done, or indirectly
through ISPs) at a nominal cost or for 'free' will create millions of
people who will have to maintain this 'habit' no matter what the cost
(they'll rationalize the expense or shift it to another budgetary
classification).

3. History Class, Take Three.  Lecture Topic - Deregulation (Accidental or
Intended Outcomes).  Airline deregulation: Entrepreneurs bring new
capital, acquire new capital equipment, experience short-term success,
suffer loss, go out of business (what happens to new capital equipment?),
original strong airline companies have the benefit of indirectly
eliminating weaker original competitors while replenishing their capital
equipment requirements for pennies on the dollar.

Banking deregulation: Entrepreneurs jump into a game they don't fully
understand, providing the same outcome (the exception being that you and I
as taxpayers are the ultimate encumbered parties - OPM to the max).

Telecom deregulation:  Entrepreneurs...sound familiar?  But wait a minute,
wasn't AT&T the first entity to experience deregulation...I'm sure you get
the picture.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Possible suggestions?  I'll have to be coy, and suggest that you email me
directly for those effective, mercenary tactics.  But I'm sure you'll take
these speculations as an opportunity to formulate some ad hoc strategies.


John Andrew Carnegie
carnegie@cotton.ultranet.com