Bills are being prepared for both houses of Congress that would allow the Baby Bells to make phone equipment, much to the ire of AT&T Co, which summons the usual apocalyptic hyperbole required on such occasions to describe the Upper House bill introduced by Senator Ernest Hollings as bad for consumers, bad for the nation’s economy, bad for the balance of trade and bad for one of the strongest and most vibrant sectors of American industry; for good measure, it warns of loss of at least 18,000 American jobs.
