EDS-Sprint Marriage Begets ‘Compunication’

The dour assessment (“EDS-Sprint Merger Appears to Be a Telecommunications Paper Tiger,” May 19) on the prospective merger of EDS and Sprint misses the mark. This is not about a “telecommunications paper tiger” but the law of the jungle in action. Market forces (i.e. clients) drive strategy--witness NCR’s transformation of ATT Global Information Services. The EDS-Sprint marriage will be viewed as no less significant in the annals of the “compunications” industry as Western Union’s decision was to not get involved in the telephone business over a century ago.

Inter-operability issues are the current roadblocks to ultimate multimedia networking. EDS has the infrastructure to address these areas, while Sprint has already distinguished itself in the deployment of fiber-optic technology.

To paraphrase Vice President Al Gore’s favorite analogy, EDS represents the cars at the on-ramp of Sprint’s superhighway.

JOHN LATAWIEC

Account manager

Sprint