これまで AT&T 社の独占だった電話業界に規制緩和の波が押し寄せ、今ではローカルや長距離通話など各サービスで数社が競合しています。しかし吸収合併で会社名が次々と変わるので、ユーザーにとっては紛らわしいし、サービスもなかなか向上しないようです。
Let me tell you about an ad I have seen on TV. It is one in a series of ads for AT&T Wireless. The central figure in the ads is a sheepherder who has a jaunty hat, a walking stick, a cellular phone, and a dozen or so sheep that follow him about.
The premise behind the ad that concerns us is that with AT&T Wireless, you can have the whole world come to you. And so we see all manner of people converging on this sheep pasture in the middle of nowhere; businessmen, however in robes and slippers, and look, up in the sky, a black helicopter with mysterious letters written on it. These mysterious letters, it turns out, are katakana. And what do they say? They say "Mass Media." Now that is a stupid thing to put on a
helicopter, and it is made doubly stupid by that fact that they have not even written the word right. The helicopter clearly says "マース・メディア."
Anyhow, I suppose I cannot blame AT&T for being a little confused. Not that many years ago, it held a monopoly over the U.S. phone system. But because of antitrust legislation, sweeping deregulation and rapidly changing technology, it's become just one of dozens of competing phone companies. It is a real free-for-all in the telecommunications industry these days, and it is
confusing for all involved.
Let us look at the photos. All these phone booths are near the intersection of 110th Street and Broadway, where I live. You will notice that we have four different styles of phone booths, and four different companies: AT&T, Bell Atlantic, the Public Pay Telephone Company and the mysterious New York City Public Telephone Company, which has constructed the booths but neglected to install the phones.
It is difficult to keep track of what the phone company is called. Two years ago our local phone service was provided by a company called NYNEX (which was reputed to be the worst phone company in the nation). NYNEX was bought by Bell Atlantic, so my phone company became Bell Atlantic. Bell Atlantic recently merged with another phone company, GTE, so my new phone company is, as a result of that merger, called "Verizon."
During that same period, I've had three different long-distance companies: AT&T, Sprint and MCI. These I switched on my own, to get better rates. I am now back with my first company, AT&T. But it announced a sharp increase in rates (on the same day that it announced a revenue shortfall), so I am looking to switch again.
I am one of the six or seven people in New York who don't have wireless, which means that I get about three or four wireless-related telemarketing calls a week. I also get calls from phone companies I have never heard from, urging me to switch to them. And I get calls from Verizon saying Verizon handles long distance now, would I like to switch? And I get calls from AT&T saying AT&T handles local phone service now, would I like to switch? When these telemarketers call at work, they first say, "May I speak to the person who is in charge of the telephone
accounts?" No, I say, and then hang up. At home, telemarketing calls usually come around dinner time, between six and eight; we have learned to let the answering machine pick up calls at that time.
Bad phone service has been a hallmark of New York for years, like crime and dirty streets. If you needed a repair, for instance, the repair crew would take its own sweet time in getting to you. Crime is down and the streets are cleaner, but it's unclear whether the phone service is
going to be better.
At the beginning of the month, when my phone company was still Bell Atlantic, I ordered the installation of two new lines. The earliest they could come was in two weeks. In the meantime,the company changed to Verizon, and 87,000 of its workers went on strike. It was, to say the least, an unfortunate start to provide the same reliable service, there were reports that striking workers were sabotaging lines throughout the city. Somehow it all seemed in keeping with the spirit of the phone company, as we New Yorkers see it.
Anyhow, a couple of days ago I got a call from Verizon, telling me that because of the strike they could not install the lines. I tried to explain that the lines were for a new office, that I was paying rent for this office, that as long as the phone lines weren't in I couldn't use my office and that I had to move out of my old office by the end of the week (this last part was a lie). The Verizon person was understanding but unmoved. "We'll call you back to schedule a reappointment."
I complained to my friend Richard about this, and he said, "What do you expect? It's the phone company." Then, he added, "At least they called you to tell you they weren't coming. I think it's amazing that they even did that."
This is how we measure progress in New York.
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- competition
- 競争
- rings confusion
- 混乱を呼び起こす(rings は、電話のベルを鳴らす、の意とかけている)
- ad = advertisement
- 広告
- central figure
- 中心人物
- sheepherder
- 羊飼い
- jaunty
- しゃれた
- walking stick
- 杖
- cellular phone
- 携帯電話
- premise
- 前提
- all manner of
- あらゆる種類の
- converging on
- に集まる
- pasture
- 牧場
- in the middle of nowhere
- 辺ぴな場所の
- doubly
- 二重に
- blame
- 批判する
- monopoly
- 市場の独占
- antitrust legislation
- 反トラスト法。
- sweeping deregulation
- 大幅な規制緩和
- rapidly
- 急速に
- free-for-all
- 自由競争
- phone booths
- 電話ボックス
- intersection
- 交差点
- (has)neglected to install
- を取り付けていない
- keep track of
- をいちいち覚えている
- was reputed to be
- という評判だった
- merged with
- と合併した
- as a result of
- の結果として
- long-distance
- 長距離電話の
- switched
- 乗り換えた
- on my own
- 自分の裁量で
- rates
- 電話料金
- back with
- に戻っている
- revenue shortfall
- 利潤低下
- telemarketing
- 電話セールス
- urging to
- にするよう勧める
- handles
- 扱う
- who is in charge of telephone accounts
- 電話料金担当の
- hang up
- 切る
- answering machine
- 留守番電話
- hallmark
- 顕著な特徴
- repair
- 修理
- take its own sweet time in getting to you
- 好き勝手な時間にのんびりとやって来る
- installation
- 設置
- In the meantime
- そうこうしている内に
- went on strike
- ストライキに突入した
- to say the least
- 控え目に言っても
- unfortunate
- 不幸な
- reliable
- 信頼できる
- were sabotaging lines
- 電話線を妨害している
- it all seemed in keeping with the spirit of the phone company
- すべて悪名高い電話会社の精神を受け継いでいるようだ
- (was)unmoved
- 動じなかった
- reappointment
- 再度の予約
- complained
- 不平を言った
- amazing
- 驚くような
- progress
- 進歩