The Deal of the Century

To slay a dragon as large and powerful as AT&T, McGowan would have to stop whacking the beast on its armored scales. Instead, he would have to risk everything in a daring lunge at its underbelly.

MCI was just “creamskimming

MCI promised the FCC that its prices would be lower than Bell’s because it would operate more efficiently.

Microwave Communications, Incorporated, to enter the intercity “private line” business between Chicago and St. Louis.

He had seen the Western Electric Company, AT&T’s multibillion-dollar manufacturing subsidiary, which in May 1972 made virtually every telephone used in America, as well as nearly all the cable, wire, and switching systems that comprised the phone network.

pots,” or “plain old telephone service.