Turns out that it was Contel Corp president and chief executive John Lemasters’ idea that the diversified Atlanta telephone company should acquire Communications Satellite Corp of Washington. Chairman Charles Wohlstetter is understood to have backed the plan while having reservations about it, but now that the deal has turned sour, and Contel is sure it doesn’t want to acquire Comsat following the Federal Communications Commission’s demand for repayment of alleged excess profits on regulated satellite services, the partnership between the two top officers at Contel has broken down, and Lemasters has resigned. Donald Weber, who was executive vice-president and head of the US telephone business at the company is the new chief executive.
