The FCC Has the Right Merger Policy

''Is the FCC chief all talk?'' (News: Analysis & Commentary, Oct. 25) is blind to the reality of the new marketplace. The writer ignores the dramatic impact of convergence, which is accelerating cross-industry competition and new services.

My job is to make sure no merger creates a conglomerate so large and so dominant that it kills this vibrant restructuring or harms the public interest. At the same time, I must ensure that any merger approved by the Federal Communications Commission will open up markets to competitors, foster innovation, and benefit consumers. Every merger approved during my tenure has included tough conditions to open markets and to keep them open.

In the most recent transaction, the SBC-Ameritech merger agreement included conditions that should dramatically increase competition in local telephone markets and expedite the deployment of high-speed Internet access and other new services to low-income and rural areas. Indeed, SBC has pledged to spend $6 billion to roll out broadband services to 70 million customers in 30 new markets and in a subsidiary structured to promote competition, as required by the FCC.

To be sure, there are mergers that may not be good for consumers and competitors. We will continue to scrutinize these transactions carefully and make sure that competition, not monopolies or duopolies, dominates the telecommunications markets.

FCC policy in reviewing these transactions is the correct policy for a world of new technologies and convergence, where the primary objective is to protect consumer choice. Be assured, we will be vigilant not to allow our hard-fought gains for competition to be lost.

William E. Kennard
Chairman
Federal Communications
Commission
Washington

It's Far Too Soon to Count AT&T Out

We're aware of the challenges AT&T faces, but ''AT&T: The problems keep on coming'' (Cover Story, Oct. 18) is unduly pessimistic. For example, we are conducting limited trials of our cable telephony service to uncover just the kind of isolated problems you cited. But surveys indicate that customers rate call clarity 9.3 on a scale of 10 and generally rate our service as good or better than the incumbent phone company's.

By the way, the ''loud hum'' that your reporter cited our customer experiencing had nothing to do with AT&T service. An aging cordless phone caused the problem. And citing problems with cable from the 1980s misses today's reality: Several cable companies in the U.S. and Britain, in addition to AT&T, have proved that the technology works.

Also, while your story grudgingly acknowledges several of AT&T's high-growth businesses, such as wireless, data, and outsourcing, it lapses into inaccuracies. Claiming that a competitor ''markets wireless Web browsing that AT&T can't match'' is wrong. We've had the same capability on our PocketNet service for three years.

Also, you question the growth of our core long-distance business but miss the fact that we've made it more profitable through steps such as migrating customers to plans that cut costly ''churn.'' Sure, AT&T faces some steep challenges, but so do our competitors. It would be a mistake to count us out in the second inning of a long and complicated game.

Richard J. Martin
Executive Vice-President
AT&T
Basking Ridge, N.J.

This City Hall Is Fighting for Workers

For the record, the union members whose photo accompanies ''Look for the union label--at IBM?'' (News: Analysis & Commentary, Oct. 11) belong to the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE). As delegates to the 64th UE Convention in Burlington, Vt., held Aug. 29-Sept. 2, they participated in a rally celebrating the opening of a Workers' Rights Center. The UE-sponsored center is housed in City Hall, making it probably the first U.S. service of its kind to be hosted by a city government Unorganized workers abused as IBM employees now have a place to direct their complaints and seek assistance. IBM employee John Mendes, a leader of the movement to organize his co-workers at the plant in nearby Essex Junction, Vt., addressed the rally.

Peter Gilmore
Managing Editor
UE News
Pittsburgh

''Chainsaw Al'' Has Plenty of Company

Kudos to John Byrne for a fascinating look at Sunbeam Corp.'s recent turmoil under Chairman Albert J. Dunlap (''Chainsaw,'' Book Excerpt, Oct. 18). The discussion of Sunbeam's accounting problems should be required reading for chief financial officers, controllers, and audit committee members. Byrne puts a human face on five key factors often present when the Securities & Exchange Commission investigates a company's accounting practices--a philosophy of ''make the numbers at all costs,'' weak internal controls and oversight, stock-option levels that can induce adverse behavior, intense pressure arising from analyst and investor scrutiny, and questionable revenue-recognition methods.

Corporate managers should assess their organizations on these five dimensions. Building the foundation for proper financial reporting sure beats the alternative--facing the media, the SEC, and your shareholders to answer some very tough questions.

Dana R. Hermanson
Director of Research
Corporate Governance Center
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Ga.


The scariest thing about this story is that there are probably 100 similar stories you could have written. I am tired of seeing companies hire egomaniacs with no checks on their power. Time and again, we see CEOs hired with big bonus packages, then watch them gut the company of people, ideas, and resources in ill-fated attempts to get profits up. When the stock crashes or the company falters, they are tossed out with huge severance packages, leaving unemployed workers, ruined corporate reputations, and poorer stockholders behind. I like to think there is a special place in hell reserved for Al Dunlap and people who think his brand of ''leadership'' is worth emulating. I can't wait to read the book.

Robert Mattheu
Louisville

''Chainsaw Al?'' Considering his reported legerdemaintics at Sunbeam, ''Cookbook Al'' would appear to be more appropriate.

Kenneth G. Huck
Snohomish, Wash.

A Quibble with Trading Emission Quotas

In ''What price pollution? Leave that to a global market'' (Economic Viewpoint, Oct. 18), Gary Becker proposes a reasonable approach to curtailing greenhouse emissions via quotas traded on the world market. My only quibble--and it is a big one--is with the initial allocation of quotas to various countries.

Becker proposes that the quotas be based on the actual emissions in some chosen year, such as 1990. Then he says that developing countries should receive ''much more generous quotas relative to their 1990 production levels than developed countries.'' The implication is that the developed countries will still end up with more sizable quotas on a per capita basis. This scheme will reward the countries that have made the least effort to curtail their emissions.

The only way to level the playing field is to base the quotas on some parameter independent of prior emissions, such as population count.

Paul W. Rosenberger
Manhattan Beach, Calif.

The Gap's Overseas Customers Want to Shop Online, Too

Here's another suggestion for how Gap Inc. can expand its online sales without cannibalizing store sales ("'Clicks and mortar' at Gap.com", Marketing, Oct. 18). How about catering to international customers, instead of referring us to the ''store nearest us'' in Canada, Japan, Britain, France, or Germany? The Gap is ignoring a large former customer base, composed not only of Americans living abroad but also of Europeans, Asians, and others who studied, worked, or simply visited, in the U.S. and are now back in their countries. Why be on the Net, if all you're going to do is cater to the same old neighborhood that you're already operating in?

Paula Miller
Athens

Teacher Certification Hurts Career Changers

''Go to the head of the class'' (BusinessWeek Investor, Oct. 11) on switching to a teaching career cites the lack of money as a top consideration. But career changers who think they will be certified to teach after 12 to 24 months should consider this: Alternative certification routes are often tortuous avenues that stymie many potential teachers. With the push for stricter certification guidelines from those in the education Establishment, many talented people currently working in other fields are being kept out of the classroom.

A moratorium on teacher certification would be an effective way to recruit more people into the classroom. Instead of allowing the states to dictate who is or is not qualified to teach, the decision should be given to the principal, just as hiring decisions in business are the responsibility of the supervisor. Not only would this give administrators a broader pool to select from but it would also lead to an increase in applicants and in turn result in better teachers being hired.

Dale Chu
Harlingen, Tex.

Dilbert Is a Victim of Poor Succession Planning

An important point omitted from ''Brain drain'' (Cover Story, Sept. 20) was the failure of management-succession plans. All workers eventually leave. Death, retirement, or a better offer--every worker gets replaced. The more common the skills, the easier to replace; the more specialized, the more difficult.

One common complaint in business today is the pointy-haired boss from the ''Dilbert'' cartoons, the boss who is clueless about day-to-day operations. The most obvious reason for a supervisor's lack of understanding is poor succession planning at the next level up. Companies keep hiring narrow-gauge specialists and then don't provide opportunities for broad-based familiarity with operations.

With no clear succession plan, only a few people will gain that broad experience. Without that broad experience there are no leaders tomorrow--once again proving that ''all business failures are management failures.''

Allen Laudenslager
Renton, Wash.

''Lycos: The chick that didn't fly the coop'' (Cover Story, Oct. 25)

''Lycos: The chick that didn't fly the coop'' (Cover Story, Oct. 25) incorrectly stated the number of online users who visit the Lycos Web portal. The correct figure is 29 million a month.

''Cybersquatters in the high-rent district'' (e.biz, Sept. 27)

''Cybersquatters in the high-rent district'' (e.biz, Sept. 27) listed people who had sold their Internet addresses. By some definitions, cybersquatters refer to people who register trademarks as Internet addresses with the intent of reselling the addresses to the trademark holders. Not all the people listed in the table fit that definition.

''Red-Faced in Redmond'' (Up Front, Nov. 1)

''Red-Faced in Redmond,'' (Up Front, Nov. 1), said that Microsoft's annual report was created on a Macintosh computer. The online version of the annual report was written using Word and Excel on a Windows-based PC. It was subsequently revised using both Windows-based PCs and Macs.