2006年VOA标准英语-AT&T-BellSouth Merger Proposed

By George Dwyer
Washington, DC
07 March 2006
 
watch Merger¹ report
 
  
  
Shares of the U.S. regional telephone firm BellSouth rose sharply in value Monday after the company agreed to an acquisition offer by AT&T Inc.

The deal, valued at $67 billion, was announced over the weekend. It would create a communications giant with more than $120 billion in annual revenue. But as VOA's George Dwyer reports, the size of the proposed merger has some consumer groups worried.

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AT&T was a legal monopoly until 1984, when the U.S. government ordered it divided into seven regional companies and a single long-distance carrier. The idea then was to promote competition but now the firm has announced plans to reacquire one of its spun-off "regionals" - BellSouth of Alabama. 

Tom Hamby  
  
BellSouth's President, Tom Hamby, says the move will benefit consumers. "First of all, it will take probably nine to twelve months before the merger is consummated², but I think what customers will really share in is the great innovation, new services, more competition. I think those are the real benefits to customers in Alabama."

The reason the government may now be willing to let the deal go forward is that the development of wireless³ phone service and the Internet, along with a growing demand for multi-media products delivered over broadband cable, have fundamentally changed the business of commercial telecommunications in recent years.

Mr. Hamby says the competition with more with cable companies. "Today we don't compete head to head with AT&T, however we compete with major cable companies and that is really what this is all about; our industry getting  more into the video business and they're interested into getting in the telecom business and that's where you'll see the economies of scope come into play and the competition heat up."

 
Tom Watts⁴
  
Industry analysts⁵, like Tom Watts, say the deal makes sense. "Big is better. Smaller operators, their costs just aren't competitive and they haven't been able to bring prices down as competition has increased."

But some consumer advocates have already expressed concern that the merger could lead to higher rates if AT&T is again allowed control over such a large segment of the U.S. telecommunications terrain⁶. 

Gene⁷ Kimmelman  
  
Gene Kimmelman, with the group Consumer's Union, says competition will be lost. "We're losing a lot of that aggressive competition that drove cell phone prices down and I think the days in which those prices keep falling through the floor are probably gone."

Some jobs will go as well -- as many as 10,000. Federal regulators must approve the deal. If it does go ahead, some analysts say it might spur AT&T's remaining competitors to join forces so they too will be big enough to compete.

1 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

2 consummated   

v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房

参考例句：

• The marriage lasted only a week and was never consummated. 那段婚姻仅维持了一星期，期间从未同房。
• We consummated an agreement after a year of negotiation. 经过一年的谈判，我们达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

4 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

7 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。