The Correlation Between AT&T With Its Customer And The Government
The purpose of this paper is to determine the correlation between the giant telecommunication company ‘AT&T’ and its customer and as well as the government. As we know that, in this modernization world, the connection between ones another is very important that it has become part of our life. There are many companies that have provided a mobile carrier network in the United States an AT&T is one of the top telecom company in the business. Last year, the company has started introducing the Fifth-generation network called ‘5G’. And there are good things and bad things about it that needs to be illustrated. This paper will exemplify both good and bad about AT&T’s new network.
As we all know, businesses always have been attached to the government especially multi-billion-dollar corporation like AT&T. There are some involvements between the government and the company like the contribution to the election, the local law, the health and safety concern and the intellectual protection.
AT&T is the 2nd biggest telecom company not just in the United States but also the world. And the reason behind this success is that they know their own strengths and weaknesses and take a benefit of their opportunities against the threats. Recently, it has become the first telecom company to introduce 5G networks to the United States and this analysis below will be focusing on the 5G networks.
On December 21, 2018, AT&T was the first company in the US to offer a mobile 5G devices over a commercial, and standard based mobile 5G network. There is always strength and weakness to everything and as well as this network. The first strength about this network is that it is superfast that 1 GB of the movie can be downloaded only in 3 seconds. Thus, the data rate is about 10 gbps or can achieved higher compare to our 4G network that can handle speeds between 5 to 12 mbps. And this will lead to the second strength that it helps save the battery performance on the device since it is fast in both upload and download so your devices do not have to work much. Lastly, the 5G plays an important role for the government as it helps with virtual reality that helps with the National defense mission. The fast and mass data transferring 5G will help streaming the richer set of information to improve strategy and to have fully control over the drone or any other appliances more effectively and efficiently to protect the civilian and the troops.
On the other hand, the weakness of the product is that since it is a new so it will take time for security and privacy issues to be resolved fully in the 5G networks. Thus, many of the old devices will need to be replaced in order to use the new 5G network. The expense on the infrastructure will be expensive because instead of relying on the large cellphone towers spread far apart they need small cells that are much close together so the cell will need to be equipped on light pole or the street light and it is also expensive to maintain as it need to be inspected by the specialist.
The opportunity is that the super-fast Internet can help lots in education sector especially in the rural area that enable the learners experience through Virtual reality or Augmented reality. For example, in the history class, the student can explore some historical sight like Angkor Wat that is in Cambodia through VR without leaving the classroom.
However, there are some threats like the costly expense, the security and privacy concern that will take time to resolve. Another concern is about the health, some people believed that the tower that supports 5G could emit the radiation that can cause Cancer. The last threat is their competitor. There are many telecommunication companies out there in the US market, but only 3 big companies that AT&T needs to worry about which are Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. Recently, Verizon has started to bring 5G to the US to compete as well. (Ty, 2019) The bar graph below illustrates that AT&T held more than 30 percent of the market share. In 2016, AT&T’s revenue was $160 billion with 77. 8 million as a wireless subscriber and 13. 5 million as prepaid subscriber.
From Macro perspective, I have analyzed 3 factors about the political factors. Firstly, the contribution to the election and public policy engagement. The decisions and contributions are based on alignment with the company’s core values, code of business conducts and AT&T cooperate public policy positions. And these decisions are made without biased regard to their officers or executives’ political preferences. Secondly, the political factor is the local law, each state has their own laws and regulations as well. AT&T has to closely follow the states and territories it has presence in rather than devising nation-wide policies in United States. Lastly, the AT&T intellectual property protection, the protection of the Rights is important for the company’s economy and for its further growth in areas such as research, innovation and employment. Effective enforcement is also essential to health and safety.
Before giving my thought toward AT&T’s stakeholder, I would like to define the word Stakeholder: It is a party or an individual that has an interest in the company business. AT&T has engaged with various of stakeholder in all sectors of their business in order to solve issues and share value to strengthen the business. There are 2 types of stakeholders: the internal and the external. The internal stakeholders of AT&T are employees, the board of director, Investors, and Manager. While their external stakeholders are customers, NGOs, suppliers, government, and competitors.
AT&T has provided support and political organizations and candidates who are aligned with the company core objective. Through the political action committee, AT&T also has to manage diverse regulations in the various markets it is present in. Over the last few years United States and other emerging economies have changed regulations not only in regards with the market entry but also how companies in communications services can operate in the local market. AT&T applies taxes, surcharges, and fees to AT&T wireless service based on rates determined by federal, state, and local laws, making price regulations. They also engage with other stakeholders as well for their business interest like online survey or feedback and Human factor lab where they let the consumer test out their products first before entering into the market. Thus, they have established the business sustainability advisory council to better communicate the economic and environmental benefits of the business products.
In this modernization world, the connection between ones another is very compulsory that it has become part of our life. There are many companies that have provided a mobile carrier network in the United States and AT&T is one of the top telecom company in this Business. According to Forbes magazine, AT&T has the market revenue of $198 billion with the profit $31 billion while the sale is remarkably high with the amount of $159 billion and also the assets of this giant telecom is $446 billion. AT&T has divided its sale into 3 main categories which are the Retail stores, bilingual stores and online website. Nowadays, AT&T has more than 16,000 retail locations in the US including the Company-owned stores, Kiosks, Authorized dealer and third party. It has also introduced 700 bilingual stores that allows the customer to work with someone who understands their needs and languages. The store’s website has played a very importing role in providing sales and shipping services to the consumer online. With lots of demand, the company started expanding its marketing strategy by having 150 mobile stores on the road by the end of this year to fulfill up the customer need.
The company has provided 2 types of carrier network which are postpaid service and prepaid service. The differences between these two is that the postpaid services have a monthly bill, and also you will be able to purchase new phones monthly installment while prepaid service is a pay as you go service. The most famous plan is postpaid use where you get lots of benefits from the company such as unlimited talk, text and data for your line within the country and as well to Mexico and Canada. This plan will also allow you to enjoy your entertainment without any limits so you do not have to worry about any overages charges in case you spend extra data, you will be getting watch-TV service for totally free to enjoy watching TV on the go from your cellphone. To sign up for the network you can either go to the store directly or do it online. And the required document are your ID, Debit or Credit card and Social security number.
Besides the product, the company business value is also great that they provide social responsibility, diversity and Ethics. Thus, there leadership team is great and that is why they have become one of the biggest telecom company not only in the local. The political actors like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have also investigated the side effects of 5G network toward health and said that there is nothing to be concerned about the new network. Still some people are worried about the radiation that emit from the antenna of the network. Depends on the local authority, some states like Maine, Florida and Ohio have accepted to install the 5G cell site within their territory while other state like New Hampshire is still considering about it.
