My understanding of the Anti-Trust Laws (1890 - Sherman Act, 1914, etc.) were there so that they would protect consumers from monopoly formations which would in turn eliminate competition and smaller sellers by offering only one source of the given product/service. I don't know who in their right mind approved the "merger" between Cingular and AT&T, but to me it seems like another Behemoth creation cleverly circumventing the existing Laws. Their (Cingular's) most recent advertising campaign is based on a slogan: "raising the bar" - to imply that the signal bar is higher and therefore more potent than before offering better connections and fewer "dropped" calls. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The "dropped" calls remain a nuisance and if you call their "Customer Service" you are told that an "upgrade" to GSM phones/service will eliminate all those problems. They don't say that the same "upgrade" will eliminate all your accumulated "roll-over" minutes, it will eliminate all the advantages of your plans and force you to buy new equipment or accessories because all those chargers, ear plugs, adapters you might own now become obsolete. This "quality improvement" runs an average $500.00 per line - I own three phone (three lines). This new generation equipment will offer you lots of new games, ring tone downloads, will work in Kuala Lumpur and outer Kazakhstan (none of which I will ever need or use). The only word I can think of is: EXTORTION. This is gone way beyond Anti-trust Laws, monopoly formations, and economic Behemoths. Highway robbery also comes to mind.

We are not a communist society and every corporate entity is entitled to its profits, earnings, but the very minimal standards of customer service must be upheld at all cost. So far, I have witnessed Cingular wireless as only making the service more complicated, more costly and less reliable. While calls for help to their "Customer Service" have usually resulted in their staff trying to "unload" this or that new service/equipment as the only remedy to any problem you might have.

I predict (with great hope that I would be proven wrong), that further monopoly formation is only going to continue. The existing political/economic climate, seems to favor big (or "bigger") businesses, and I see no positive change in the immediate future.

Iliya Pavlovich