sbeagle@kennels.actrix.gen.nz (Sleeping Beagle) (02/13/91)
I'm thinking about doing a project about New Zealand Telecom deregulation for my post-graduate degree. To help me make up my mind about whether to do it or not, I'm reading a book called "Wrong Number : The Breakup of AT&T" by Alan Stone. He obviously thinks that the breakup was a bad thing, but I'm starting to wonder about the level of bias - it appears extreme! Does anyone know anything about this book? Even if biased, is it reasonably accurate? Thanks for any advice/help. Official Signature for Sleeping Beagle (aka Thomas Farmer)! sbeagle@kennels.actrix.gen.nz Thomas.Farmer@bbs.actrix.gen.nz [Moderator's Note: 'Bias' is a funny thing. If you believe something to be the truth, then it is not bias. If your leaning is in another direction, then a strongly worded statement opposing your point of view becomes bias. I've thought the book was reasonably accurate, although perhaps a bit more strongly worded than necessary. I would recommend it to the group however for a good study on what has gone wrong since divestiture. PAT]
michels@tramp.Colorado.EDU (MICHELS DAVID) (02/16/91)
The best book I have read on the subject is: "The Deal of the Century" by Steven Coll. I think Coll did a great job of presenting the story without a bias. The book was very interesting/entertaining to read. Also, "Telecommunications in Turmoil" by Gerald Faulhaber is pretty good at presenting the facts of the break-up. It is not as complete as Deal, but gets thru the whole thing much quicker and presents good arguments for both sides on all of the major issues. Dave