| *shrug* A perfectly legal and legitimate tactic. I can see the Bellsouth execs now: "Hmmm. Our call center in Lafayette is...costly. It'd be cheaper if we moved it to Tampa, Call Center Capital of the World. Ah well. Such a pity."
It can't truly be called extortion. The definition of extortion is 'Illegal use of one's official position or powers to obtain property, funds, or patronage.' Bellsouth is not really attempting to do this. Let's look at the article:
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Oliver said a successful LUS venture could create a monopoly in the parish.
Why would BellSouth want to keep all its operations in a parish where it had no other significant business interest, Oliver asked rhetorically.
The call center, which handles customer service tasks for Cingular, could be located in "Timbuktu" and still perform the same services, Oliver said.
"Would you still keep people there?" Oliver said.
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I cannot fault the man's logic; it is inescapable. Why put money into a community that they cannot make money from? They used the same logic at Earthlink...and to Earthlink's greater profit and increased stock values. I honestly am unable to fathom why a for-profit corporation would think otherwise. |
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| quote:
Why put money into a community that they cannot make money from?
That buys into the logic that they can't make money there. Says who?
Because 1-2,000 people sign up for fiber in a Southern city, suddenly it's a profit graveyard? Because of one small competitor?
It's one of two things (or both):
Propaganda designed to get locals tying job losses to the fiber plan.
An excuse to use as cover for a pre-made decision to send those jobs overseas. |
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 JTRockvilleData HoPremium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
 ·Verizon FiOS
| reply to DSL Oberst
Exactly, DSL Oberst  . Why would BellSouth keep jobs in Lafayette, anyway? I mean, it's not like Lafayette can count on those jobs to stay regardless of whether or not they build a muni system.
BellSouth has an interest in the economic viability of BellSouth, whereas the City of Lafayette has an interest in the economic viability of the City of Lafayette.
The muni system will provide much better economic viability for Lafayette than crumbling to BellSouth's threats will. |
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