I'd like to say no, but it would not surprise me. I was surprised that the at&t/BellSouth merger happened. BellSouth was the last remaining Bell company, bringing on the end of the Bell System. Today, telephone markets have become a commodity and the customers are just pawns.
Last year, Verizon decided that their former Bell Atlantic territories in ME, NH and VT weren't profitable enough so they sold these markets to a little-known company called Fairpoint Communications. After months of start-up delays, they are finally closing the deal, but the customers are suffering greatly. It is taking weeks or even months to get installation orders complete because the new guys don't know what they are doing and Verizon has no obligation to help them.
It is going to get worse before it gets better. A QWest-Verizon merger would make the big two become Verizon and at&t. Quest having more geographical territory, coupled with Verizon's ownership of their Bell Atlantic and GTE territories would make them the clear leader in the race. A merger would likely retain the at&t name for fun, but the customers would be royally screwed in the long run. Let's hope that never happens.
Not that it matters. We pay, we pay, we pay and we can't live without them. Then we go back in time to 1984 and the government starts breaking up "the new at&t" again.
