Sbc Boss Takes Swipe At Federal Regulators

Breaking his usual reserve, SBC Communications Inc. Chairman Edward E. Whitacre Jr. took a swipe Tuesday at federal regulators who rejected his bid to get into the long-distance business.

Regulators’ pressure also helped to break off merger talks between the regional Bell phone company and AT&T Corp.

Whitacre denounced the Federal Communications Commission’s rejection last Thursday of SBC’s request to provide long-distance service to some of its own customers in Oklahoma.

“Federal regulators have had trouble seeing the picture in Oklahoma from their desks in Washington,” he said in a speech at the Communications Workers of America’s convention in Las Vegas.