AT&T®-Time Warner Merger
President Donald Trump recently said that the AT&T® CEO Randall Stephenson has done a “really a top job.” He said this, months after dinging the proposed merger of AT&T® with Time Warner®, saying that it is an “example of the power structure I’m fighting.”
The President lavished Stephenson with praise at a White House confab that took place recently. The confab was about the latest technologies like 5G wireless and drones. Trump said AT&T® was “like two companies — you started, then it was made different by government and now here you are again.” He added that such reinvention is “not easy to do. Most companies would’ve just disappeared. And you didn’t disappear.”
This exchange could show the latest position of AT&T® in Washington. The tough comments from Trump last year on the proposed merger 108 billion dollars merger of AT&T® and Time Warner® raised many questions and chances of a rough ride. However, AT&T® has managed to find common ground with the White House on many issues like tax policy, net neutrality, and deregulation.
Stephenson had many interactions with President Trump and he praised the business friendly approach of the administration. “It’s been dizzying the pace that the regulatory playing field has been cleared and been made more clear for companies that invest like ours,” Stephenson said before the White House meet. This conference was the latest effort of the President to highlight businesses particularly the telecom industry.
The President expressed his feelings with the executives over “too many years of excessive government regulation.” He added that he wanted to learn how the government can “help unleash the next generation of technological breakthroughs that will transform our lives.”
“We want to remain No. 1,” Trump said.
5G Wireless Service
Stephenson said that low corporate taxes would be the best way to “stimulate investment in new technologies and innovation.” He focused on the importance of having high-speed 5G network. “We are at a place where if we get this right, we probably lead the world for another era,” said Stephenson. He used a scale model of a city to demonstrate to the President how the 5G network would be deployed making use of the best internet services of AT&T®.
Stephenson was not the only CEO giving feedback to the President. Dyan Gibbens, CEO of a drone company named Trumbull Unmanned based at Houston also attended the meet. It is reported that the drones of Trumbull Unmanned can fly in “challenging environments” to collect and analyze data for different sectors, mainly the energy sector.
