Showdown of the Giants

The Wall Street Journal (free this week) confirms local suspicions that BellSouth's threatening stance regarding offering a triple play (and more) in Lafayette is more hype than substance. In a story assessing how likely the Bells are to answer the cable companies' move to offer phone services by providing video services says this about BellSouth:

...not every Bell is convinced that video is worth the multibillion-dollar investment. BellSouth Corp. has still not officially decided whether it will make a push into delivering its own video service and is concerned about the high cost.

"While there is a lot of excitement and buzz around video, we're a long way away from making a decision on whether we'll go ahead with it," says BellSouth Chief Financial Officer Ron Dykes. He adds that the Atlanta-based company, which already has extensive fiber in the ground, will run trials this year and next.

Oliver's anger over using quotes from retired employees to bolster LUS points was plain Tuesday night. But Dykes is not retired at all. I have to wonder what Mr. Oliver would say about this.

It's hard to remain calm when the head office keeps on undercutting your position.