The announcement that AT&T intends to acquire BellSouth dropped like a bomb last week, and has left public interest and consumers groups worried that the end result will be increased rates, lowered competition and new restrictions on internet service. But the new AT&T is really SBC, and what’s being left out of most press accounts of the merger is that SBC has a record of jacking up rates and defunding customer service after a merger.

On this edition of mediageek Paul reviews SBC’s past, and looks how the proposed merger is playing in Washington, and what it means for crucial telecommunications debates, like network neutrality.

This month also marks the 4th anniversary of the radioshow, so we’ll listen to an excerpt from one of Paul’s favorite interviews from the first year of mediageek. The subject of this interview is Russ Forster, creator of the zine 8-Track Mind and filmmaker behind So Wrong They’re Right and Tributary.

Download/Podcast:

• mediageek 3-10-06 broadcast quality mp3 (64kbps 14 MB)