For Bob Allen, A New Order Of Battle the veteran CEO must now move beyond the old wars to develop and execute a strategy for the 21st century -and a $500 billion market New Technologies AT&T can no longer call the shots on which technologies and standards will dominate the phone system. Instead, a plethora of new and unproven transmission systems-Internet calling, digital wireless, low-orbit satellite services, broadband networks-will jockey for the customer's calls. New Competitors The Telecom Act of 1996 has set the stage for hordes of new competitors to enter the long-distance market, among them the powerful Baby Bells. AT&T could also be facing electric utilities, cable-TV operators, even corporations in other industries. Bye-bye, the AT&T-dominated oligopoly; hello, shrinking market share. New Markets Deregulation means AT&T has no choice but to offer local calling-all its competitors will- but it is a market with a daunting risk/reward ratio. AT&T must spend billions getting in, and it could still take years to break the dominance of today's monopoly local phone companies. New Management CEO Robert E. Allen retires in four years. The company just lost its president, there is no heir apparent, and AT&T desperately needs fresh blood. But, with Allen hinting that he might step aside, the job may look more attractive.

Updated June 14, 1997 by bwwebmaster
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