8 replies to this topic

[deez879]

I heard a rumor second hand from my accountant that CenturyLink is negotiating with AT&T to buy wire centers from them, then layoff most of the AT&T employees in those turfs. The source is a CenturyLink tech in Winter Park and he feels good about it b/c he was told their work load would double, thereby ensuring job security. AT&T techs/employees would be let go and not absorbed....just out on the street. Anyone know of this, confirm or deny? Set the record straight? Have the real scoop? Rumors run rampant...of this I know. However, 6 years ago when I worked for BellSouth an AT&T CO tech told me they were going to buy BellSouth. I scoffed, but 3 years later it happened and now I work for them...and it really sucks, but at least I'm still working.

[lashdawg]

First, you should know better than to believe gossip.

Second, consider your source. You've got a field tech, a service tech, telling YOU that their company is buying YOUR infrastructure, and NO ONE ELSE has heard of something similar.


I could maybe see this happening in CATV, because with all the contractors, the in-house techs a lot of times don't communicate stuff like that with contractors, who they feel are a dime-a-dozen....but with how structured in-house is (both CATV and Bell), I think you would've heard something by now.

[knuckelbuster]

I heard a rumor second hand from my accountant that CenturyLink is negotiating with AT&T to buy wire centers from them, then layoff most of the AT&T employees in those turfs. The source is a CenturyLink tech in Winter Park and he feels good about it b/c he was told their work load would double, thereby ensuring job security. AT&T techs/employees would be let go and not absorbed....just out on the street. Anyone know of this, confirm or deny? Set the record straight? Have the real scoop? Rumors run rampant...of this I know. However, 6 years ago when I worked for BellSouth an AT&T CO tech told me they were going to buy BellSouth. I scoffed, but 3 years later it happened and now I work for them...and it really sucks, but at least I'm still working.

[knuckelbuster]

I heard a rumor second hand from my accountant that CenturyLink is negotiating with AT&T to buy wire centers from them, then layoff most of the AT&T employees in those turfs. The source is a CenturyLink tech in Winter Park and he feels good about it b/c he was told their work load would double, thereby ensuring job security. AT&T techs/employees would be let go and not absorbed....just out on the street. Anyone know of this, confirm or deny? Set the record straight? Have the real scoop? Rumors run rampant...of this I know. However, 6 years ago when I worked for BellSouth an AT&T CO tech told me they were going to buy BellSouth. I scoffed, but 3 years later it happened and now I work for them...and it really sucks, but at least I'm still working.

Not to worry Dude Century tel spending all they have to rehab old worn out (tech performance plan) Sprint squezzed out of there plant before cutting it loose and calling it Embarq

[deez879]

Thanks for the responses. I heard a rumor and just wanted to use the forum as a way of collecting knowledge of the situation. I think you guys have helped. Rumors are just that and I'm not registering and account on CareerBuilder.com just because of it. However, factual events have occured throughout history and also started out as rumors. So, that's why I posed the question to this forum. If there is any merit to the rumor, someone will know about it. Based on the responses, I would say it's bogus. But I invite someone to tell my otherwise.

[lastcenturytel]

Heh....when I was at AT&T I had also believed that eventually acquiring Bellsouth was a forgone conclusion. The reasoning was Cingular Wireless which was a joint venture between SBC and Bellsouth, of which SBC owned the controlling 60% and Bellsouth owning the remaining 40%. With the obscene wireless profit margins and continuing double digit growth rate of the wireless industry at the time, it seemed the obvious thing for CEO Ed Whitacre, to do would be to swallow up Bell South and have 100% ownership of Cingular. This of course ultimately came to fruition.

I think we have probably seen the end of the baby bell mergers, but the independent mergers will continue.

Presently, I am at that newly renamed company deez mentioned. CenturyTel in it's entire history has grown by acquistion after aquisition, the latest being Embarq which was formerly Sprint's landline business. Embarq is company with over 2x the number of employees as it's acquiring party. Even though, CEO Glen Post has been fairly recently quoted as already looking for the next acquisition, I have to think he will have to hold off until Embarq and CenturyTel are more completely integrated. I don't want to say anymore about that since it is probably proprietary/insider information. I would rest assured that CTL is probably not looking to acquire AT&T exchanges, at least in the near future, and I certainly have not heard anything about AT&T wanting to sell any off. I hear plenty of rumors about Verizon trying to dump exchanges, and even about Qwest possibly selling off its fiber network(that one makes no sense).

[linemandave]

With U-Verse being it's foot into the cable tv market...I don't see that happening any time soon.

LD

[SpikeVelvet]

I am also an AT&T tech in the former BellSouth turf. After Katrina we had a bunch of Canadian techs down here to help us with the storm rehab. They were employees of Expertech and had been employed by Bell Canada. The same thing you mentioned happened to them. The outside plant was sold off and the techs became the employees of another company--I'm pretty sure this is correct (somebody correct me if I'm wrong)

There is nothing that would surprise me at AT&T !!

I had also heard the merger rumor as early as 2004 or 2005. We had a district level manager tell us that BellSouth was paying off alot of debt and getting lean and mean. At the time I was naive enough to think a merger would be a good thing. It goes to show you---Watch what you wish for because you might get worse.

Edited by SpikeVelvet, 04 April 2010 - 07:20 PM.

[linemandave]

Well the "lean and mean" part is certainly the order of the day.

Edited by linemandave, 04 April 2010 - 07:25 PM.