The thunderous noise you heard off in the distance last week was not the mating dance of two elephants, it was the announcement that two of the seven "Baby Bells" had decided to get hitched.
SBC Communications, formerly Southwestern Bell, and Pacific Telesis announced that they planned to merge.If successful, the new behemoth would become the second largest telecommunications firm in the country, serving the nation's two most populous states - California and Texas - seven of the top 10 largest metro areas and 16 of the top 50 markets.
The new entity would maintain the name SBC Communications, with more than 30 million lines and access to more than 80 million potential wireless customers.
Upon completion of the merger, SBC would employ more than 100,000, generate more than $21 billion in revenues and nearly $3 billion in income annually.
Whew! Talk about a mammoth deal.
Convergence decade rolls on
The SBC acquisition of Pacific Telesis (for that's really what it is) is just another example of the pressures being exerted on the telecommunications, technology and entertainment industries to consolidate for the coming millennium.
In this case, it happened to be two "telco" firms joining together, but it could have just as easily been a computer firm and an entertainment company.
With the passage of the Telecommunications Reform Act, phone companies and other communications firms had their shackles removed as to where, and in what fields, they could compete.
Remember, it was only a month ago that US WEST announced its intention to acquire Continental Cable in a $10.8 billion deal.
I suspect that we're just beginning to see the fallout effects of the Telecommunications Reform Act, and that by the time everyone's done and people can stop and catch their breath, the telecommunications landscape will be changed forever.
Honors for local firms
On a more local note, three Orem-based technology firms have been honored lately for the quality or success of their respective products.
PowerQuest has landed several awards recently for its Par-ti-tion-Magic software program. (Simply put, PartitionMagic allows users to easily and quickly define and modify partitions on a hard drive.)
German firm PC Professionell just awarded PartitionMagic with its "Innovation of the Year" award in the software category.
Additionally, Software Development magazine honored the product with its Productivity award in March, while PC User magazine in the United Kingdom recently selected PartitionMagic for its Gold award.
Also, Vinca and Novell were both feted by LAN Magazine this week in Las Vegas at the Networld+Interop trade show.
Both firms won "Product of the Year" awards from the publication: Vinca for its SnapShotServer product, and Novell for NEST (NetWare Enabled Systems Technology).
Annual UITA meeting
For those who want to see and be seen among Utah's high-tech leaders, mark your calendar for Tuesday, April 23.
That's the day the Utah Information Technologies Association will hold its annual meeting at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort.
Activities will kick off at a noon luncheon with keynote addresses from Gov. Mike Leavitt and James Oyler, president and CEO of Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp.
Following a late afternoon reception and mini-trade show, UITA will hold an awards banquet honoring outstanding sales performances in the industry.
According to Peter Genereaux, UITA president, more than 70 awards will be presented this year, up from 40 at last year's event.
For more information or reservations, contact UITA at 801-568-3500.