roundtable: What price for Bellcore or how do you value basic RandD(EDUPAGE:FWD

roundtable: What price for Bellcore or how do you value basic R&D[EDUPAGE:FWD

What price for Bellcore or how do you value basic R&D[EDUPAGE:FWD

W. Curtiss Priest (BMSLIB@mitvma.mit.edu)
Wed, 24 May 95 14:11:02 EDT 

Message-Id: <9505241814.AA26174@a.cni.org>
Date:         Wed, 24 May 95 14:11:02 EDT
From: "W. Curtiss Priest" <BMSLIB@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject:      What price for Bellcore or how do you value basic R&D[EDUPAGE:FWD
To: Telecommunications Policy Roundtable <ROUNDTABLE@CNI.ORG>


When AT&T was a monopoly Bellcore (then Bell Labs) was the crown of
the nation.  Scientists invented everything there from the transistor
to new metals for springs.

It is a classic problem to value basic science.  That's why, even 
Republicans back funding Science!

But now we have the bizarre situation of trying to sell a "company" 
that does science and basic R&D!

Read on ...




WHAT PRICE BELLCORE?
Bellcore's on the block, but the Baby Bells are having a hard time 
deciding what to charge.  "It isn't commercially oriented, and it's 
been operated as a nonprofit that hasn't been accountable to anyone in 
particular.  It's a seven-headed monster right now," says one Wall 
Street analyst.  Nevertheless, many Bellcore employees are looking 
forward to release from their antitrust decree-bondage: "It's about 
time we were able to start cashing in on what we know and what we have," 
says one Bellcore engineer.  The process of selling the research 
organization promises to be especially dicey, as the Baby Bells have 
no intention of undermining their own positions by selling to a direct 
competitor, such as AT&T.  (Wall Street Journal 5/22/95 B1)

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