Network World, 01/04/99

EDWARD WHITACRE, CEO, SBC COMMUNICATIONS

An unabashed champion of traditional telcos, Ed Whitacre is one of the savviest leaders in this new age of networks and one of the toughest competitors in the business.

How you feel about Whitacre depends on whether you're a stockholder (SBC's stock has climbed from the low $30s to more than $50 since January 1998) or a competitor trying to interconnect with SBC. SBC is a no-holds-barred scrapper that has drawn plenty of complaints from would-be rivals that say the carrier makes life difficult.

Under Whitacre, SBC has raised a few complaints of its own, using the courts to take on the FCC and derail some of the telecom reform decisions the carrier found too onerous.

While critics of telecom reform lament the merger mania overtaking the industry, Whitacre has been one of the chief architects of consolidation. SBC, a $25 billion company, has already gobbled up Pacific Telesis and SNET, an independent carrier serving southern New England. But Whitacre has another big prize in his grasp - Ameritech - and he's hoping that increasingly skeptical regulatory officials won't make him drop it.

Whitacre believes size matters in the telecom wars of tomorrow. As MCI WorldCom and AT&T continue to bulk up, so must SBC. And woe to AT&T's Armstrong, Sprint's Bill Esrey and MCI WorldCom's Ebbers if Whitacre gets the green light to offer long distance.

WHITACRE'S CHALLENGE: Whitacre has to temper his rough-and-tumble ways long enough to finesse approval of his Ameritech buyout and get the nod on long distance. With those OKs under his belt, there may be no stopping him.

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