Rita McGrath

Well, I think to really understand Seidenberg's story, you actually have to start a little bit earlier with the breakup of AT&T. And this was Ma Bell. I mean, talk about the ultimate monopoly. There was a show in the 70s called Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In where there was a character that laughed. pretended to be an operator for the phone company.

So you have to kind of go all the way back to that. So a lot of telecom inherited this monopoly... guaranteed revenue, very profitable business, which you didn't have to work very hard. I mean, you had to deliver on your service. The regulators would ding you if you didn't provide reliable service and you didn't offer service to rural areas.

So you have to kind of go all the way back to that. So a lot of telecom inherited this monopoly... guaranteed revenue, very profitable business, which you didn't have to work very hard. I mean, you had to deliver on your service. The regulators would ding you if you didn't provide reliable service and you didn't offer service to rural areas.

So you have to kind of go all the way back to that. So a lot of telecom inherited this monopoly... guaranteed revenue, very profitable business, which you didn't have to work very hard. I mean, you had to deliver on your service. The regulators would ding you if you didn't provide reliable service and you didn't offer service to rural areas.

But in exchange for doing that, you kind of had the market to yourself. So what Seidenberg did, and he had an interesting story. He was the ultimate insider, wasn't a super educated man, worked his way up through the ranks, and kind of thought about And what comes after copper wires and what could happen in the future.

But in exchange for doing that, you kind of had the market to yourself. So what Seidenberg did, and he had an interesting story. He was the ultimate insider, wasn't a super educated man, worked his way up through the ranks, and kind of thought about And what comes after copper wires and what could happen in the future.

But in exchange for doing that, you kind of had the market to yourself. So what Seidenberg did, and he had an interesting story. He was the ultimate insider, wasn't a super educated man, worked his way up through the ranks, and kind of thought about And what comes after copper wires and what could happen in the future.

And I think probably the major incitement was to say, hey, a lot of these baby bells, as they called them, really had no idea how to compete like a regular commercial company. And he didn't want to end up like that. And so one of the things he did was he organized a merger of Bell Atlantic with GTE, which at the time was this kind of cool technology provider of the time.

And I think probably the major incitement was to say, hey, a lot of these baby bells, as they called them, really had no idea how to compete like a regular commercial company. And he didn't want to end up like that. And so one of the things he did was he organized a merger of Bell Atlantic with GTE, which at the time was this kind of cool technology provider of the time.

And I think probably the major incitement was to say, hey, a lot of these baby bells, as they called them, really had no idea how to compete like a regular commercial company. And he didn't want to end up like that. And so one of the things he did was he organized a merger of Bell Atlantic with GTE, which at the time was this kind of cool technology provider of the time.

And he thought that that company could teach what was called Bell Atlantic about the new technologies, the new things. And he was kind of blown away by that. So they renamed the company Verizon. And prompted to get out, actually, of these pretty profitable legacy businesses and start exploring some of these new technologies. So he did really controversial things like sell off physical phone books.

And he thought that that company could teach what was called Bell Atlantic about the new technologies, the new things. And he was kind of blown away by that. So they renamed the company Verizon. And prompted to get out, actually, of these pretty profitable legacy businesses and start exploring some of these new technologies. So he did really controversial things like sell off physical phone books.

And he thought that that company could teach what was called Bell Atlantic about the new technologies, the new things. And he was kind of blown away by that. So they renamed the company Verizon. And prompted to get out, actually, of these pretty profitable legacy businesses and start exploring some of these new technologies. So he did really controversial things like sell off physical phone books.

Can you imagine that?

Can you imagine that?

Can you imagine that?

You know, he found ways of servicing them for less money. He eventually converted a lot of the sort of big pipes, not the copper pipes right to the home, but the big pipes to FIOSP.

You know, he found ways of servicing them for less money. He eventually converted a lot of the sort of big pipes, not the copper pipes right to the home, but the big pipes to FIOSP.

You know, he found ways of servicing them for less money. He eventually converted a lot of the sort of big pipes, not the copper pipes right to the home, but the big pipes to FIOSP.

Yeah, you could still have a copper line in your house, but it would be connected to a fiber optic network. And then the fiber optic network would allow you to have broadband. It would allow you to compete with the cable companies, which he saw as a huge opportunity. And it was, if you remember back in the day, and again, I feel like I'm retelling ancient history, but it's not that long ago.