“Today’s AT&T is not your 1984 Ma Bell.”

June 12, 1007 – Ted Creech introduced Gregg Morton, the new President of AT&T South Carolina, as a highly accomplished professional who graduated from Clemson. Gregg then began his telecommunications career in Charleston, moved to Columbia, Atlanta, and finally, after two senior positions in Washington D.C., is back in S.C. to make a difference in our technology future. Gregg entertained our Club with a satirical film clip that outlined the last 30 years of the telecommunications industry. He stated that no matter how it appears, “we not just putting Ma Bell back together again.”

Mr. Morton’s key points revolved around how technology has changed the terrain since 1984, with the biggest change being found in the “wireless explosion” the world is experiencing. He emphasized that Ma Bell had no competitors in 1984 and now AT&T’s biggest competitor is cable. Additionally, with today’s broadband infrastructure, “anyone can become a voice provider.” Of special interest to the Club was Gregg’s observations on technology convergence: a wireless tsunami that will result in our TV/PC/other wireless devices all residing on a common platform using home monitoring applications such as “nanny-cam” and “pet-cam.”

After quick plugs for AT&T’s Apple i-phone (coming out on June 29th), HomeZone (their “satellite on steroids”), and U-Verse (their 2008 broadband platform), he moved on to the “future of the internet.” His brief discussion on net neutrality and why a smart internet pipe is critical to our future was enlightening. As an example of why it’s important: U-Tube uses as much bandwidth today as the entire internet used in 2000. Gregg ended his informative talk with the key point:

AT&T [he] opposes any legislation that shifts “beefed-up” internet business costs (innovation/expansion) to the consumer.

Reported by Bill Crowe, Keyway Committee