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In an open admission of favoritism for such companies as RCA, Western Union International and International Telephone & Telegraph, one FCC official said: "They're the little boys, so they deserve the breaks."
But the big boy has always managed to win the most important battle; A.T.&T. defeated the Justice Department's persistent attempts during the
Truman and Eisenhower Administrations to divorce it from Western Electric, and not much is heard about that any more. A virtual monopoly almost since it was founded in 1877, the Bell System has preserved its special status by arguing that it is much more efficient and economical than a lot of little, local phone companies would be. It has agreed not to invade the territory of the 2,645 independent companies that control the remaining 17% of the phone business. Largest of the independents by far is General Telephone & Electronics Corp., which has 5,000,000 phones as well as extensive manufacturing and research facilities. By buying up smaller companies and shrewdly moving into rural areas and fast-growing suburbs that A.T.&T. does not reach, General Telephone has lifted its sales 1,450% in the past dozen years—to last year's $1.4 billion. A.T.&T. has barely expanded its area of coverage in 42 years, and in 1956 the Justice Department ordered it to open its thousands of patents to all comers.
Lovable Green Giant. Always sensitive about its bigness, and reluctant to be viewed as the great profitmaker that it is, A.T.&T. has devised one of the most effective lobbying and public relations systems in industry. It keeps many discreet and well-connected lobbyists in Washington and in the state capitals. The phone company's public relations campaign paints it as a lovable green giant of communications. In fact, it is so anxious to be loved that it polls 80,000 stockholders each year to find out what they think about the company, even financed a study to determine whether public telephones are dangerous germ carriers. A.T.&T.'s answer: No.
Employees take company courses in politeness and courtesy, are constantly reminded that they and their customers have no fewer than 10 billion conversations a year. A.T.&T. executives are encouraged to lead civic-uplift drives, and to join many public service groups. Once they have joined, they frequently volunteer to make speeches about A.T. & T. or show company films, preaching such slogans as "The Voice with a Smile Is Still Behind Your Dial" and "Whatever the Future Brings, It's Still People Talking."
Fred Kappel himself gives about a dozen public speeches a year, and in one of them, delivered four years ago at Columbia University, he said that "low tolerance for criticism" is a sign of loss of business vitality. A.T.&T. certainly has plenty of business vitality—and plenty of sensitivity to criticism. Kappel calls A.T.&T.'s Washington