UTAH TECH WATCH - - by David Politis - - 4/6-8/96 Edition

The thunderous noise you hear off in the distance is caused by the mating
dance of two elephants in love.

In reality, it was the announcement this week that two of the seven "Baby
Bells" had decided to get hitched. SBC Communications, formerly
Southwestern Bell, and Pacific Telesis announced this week their intent to
merge operations. 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 over 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
only 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.

For example, PowerQuest has landed several awards recently for its
PartitionMagic software program. (Simply put, PartitionMagic allows users
to easily and quickly define and modify partitions on a hard drive.)
Specifically, PC Professionell out of Germany 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 this week in Las Vegas at the Networld+Interop
trade show by LAN Magazine. 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 wishing 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 Utah Governor Michael Leavitt and James Oyler, president
and ceo of Evans & Sutherland. Following a late afternoon reception and
mini-tradeshow, 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.

A marketing communications consultant that specializes in high-tech and
life sciences clients, David Politis welcomes column ideas at 801-569-2592
or via the Internet at dpolitis@altatech.com.
 
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