American History 1988
Chapter 179 - 173: Infernal Affairs

Chapter 179: Chapter 173: Infernal Affairs

"Durell, you know we’ve invested more," said Dave, cradling the phone with his shoulder as he slowly stirred his coffee with both hands.

"But Byte Company has solved all the technical issues!" Durell argued, "You know, Dave, the key is the VoIP technology."

"I admit you have a point, but without the massive input of hardware infrastructure, IP telephony would remain a theory.

And laying lines, developing, and manufacturing terminal devices all require huge funds, and most importantly, MCI has a stable customer channel.

You know what I mean, Durell. MCI can provide a large number of corporate users for IP phones almost anytime, and we have businesses in America and Canada."

"Come on, Dave. Besides technology, Byte Company can also undertake part of the funding..."

"Durell," Dave didn’t want to drag on the discussion, he cut to the chase, "As far as I know, Bell hasn’t given up on the upcoming lawsuit, they want to move the case to Virginia, right?"

Durell, who was thousands of miles away, was taken aback; he sensed trouble. "Dave, that’s just Bell’s last-ditch struggle, they can’t change anything!"

"They can apply for an injunction to temporarily stop Byte Company from using ADPCM technology because that’s the contested area!"

Durell rubbed his chin slowly, "I can assure you, Dave. We will drag it out until Bell gives up on the appeal. We have enough means to do so!"

"Maybe we need to think about this again," said Dave, shrugging as he hung up the phone.

Durell’s call was not a surprise to Dave; the two sides had been discussing the joint company’s share issue many times recently.

Obviously, both sides wanted to gain more benefits. MCI had hardware resources, channel resources, and licensing resources; there was no reason not to take the leading role in the joint company.

"Boss, the matter has been taken care of," an assistant came up and handed over the sorted newspapers to him.

Dave glanced at the newspapers and nodded in satisfaction, "Good, it seems Bell has taken our suggestion."

The newspapers in his hand were filled with Bell’s remarks and statements about continuing the litigation with Byte Company, revealed during media interviews.

Indeed, the idea of changing the trial venue was partly due to MCI’s influence.

Dave had a former subordinate who had moved to Southern Bell. During their casual chat, Dave "accidentally" let slip some information.

In his words, they were all telephone companies, but Byte Company’s Teams software threatened the existence of telephone services.

Therefore, to eliminate this threat, as part of the telephone camp, they could certainly move the lawsuit to their stronghold.

Compared to the West Coast, there’s no doubt that these old businesses have more clout on the East Coast.

Indeed, following Dave’s hint, Bell wisely took similar steps.

MCI successfully applied indirect pressure on Byte Company, and Bell found a way to increase its chances of winning the lawsuit.

Look, a win-win!

The bitter enemies, through some means, sometimes maintain an unspoken understanding.

What about the friendship between Dave and Durell? Come on, it’s all about business.

If Dave could maintain an understanding even with his arch-enemy Bell, let alone a venture capitalist friend on the West Coast.

Moreover, nobody knew what MCI had done in between; there were no formal meetings and no records of any kind.

Maybe even the top executives at Bell didn’t realize their role in all this, not to mention Byte Company far away on the West Coast.

Dave now had all the patience in the world; he was waiting for the moment Byte Company would come to him for negotiations.

He knew they would come to him because voice coding technology was Byte Company’s Achilles’ heel.

"Duane, well done! I bet that kid from Byte Company is scared stiff right now," said William Kennard while enjoying Ruth’s service, on the phone with Southern Bell’s Duane.

"He got on my nerves! Now, as he wished, I’ll let him taste the wrath of Mother Bell!"

"Yeah! That’s the spirit!" William Kennard caressed Ruth’s golden hair, signaling her not to stop.

"Once we get to Virginia, we have countless ways to torment them. We need to let everyone know that Bell is not to be trifled with!"

"Exactly, that’s what I wanted to say. The kid is too smug, I hate his face on the talk shows."

"Oh~" William Kennard struggled to stay focused, "Or maybe Duane you could also consider my previous suggestion, AT&T has a better shot in Virginia."

"I’ll consider it, but only after I’ve had my revenge."

"OK, I’ll wait for your good news." Hanging up the phone, William Kennard could no longer control his expression.

"Come on! Ruth, I’m almost there!"

Answering him was Ruth’s steadily bobbing head, she was always excellent at her job.

Putting down the phone, Duane suddenly burst into laughter.

He hadn’t expected William to actually call him and even heap praise on him.

He had never expected the people from MCI to indirectly send messages to him through others!

Oh God, was his archenemy actually devising strategies for Bell?!

If April Fool’s Day hadn’t already passed, Duane would have thought the other party was joking with him.

However, after careful consideration, Duane quietly adopted MCI’s suggestion.

Yes, the decision to release signals that litigation would continue was Bell’s own unilateral decision.

William Kennard of AT&T knew nothing about it; in fact, he even thought Bell was prepared to give up on the upcoming lawsuit.

So, upon seeing the news report, William Kennard made a special call.

Duane found the situation becoming interesting. AT&T, MCI, Bell, Byte—this was turning into quite a spectacle.

But was Bell really prepared to continue its showdown with Byte Company in Virginia?

Duane picked up the phone and began to dial another number, "Dean, it’s me, Duane from Bell."

"Mr. Duane?" Dean, who was just about to call Bell from Silicon Valley, wondered for a moment if he had heard wrong.

Could it be such a coincidence? Dean’s keen senses told him that things were not simple.

"From your tone, I sense surprise," Duane, who now acknowledged Byte Company’s existence, said. They had proved it with their actions.

"Yes, I am indeed surprised," Dean said, slowly pacing with his Motorola phone to the office blinds.

"What surprises me is that I was about to call Mr. Duane, and yet you beat me to it."

"Oh?" The smile on Duane’s face grew more evident. "It seems we already have an understanding, so, shall we get straight to the point?"

"No problem, I also think it’s time to conclude matters. That’s what the federal courts encourage us to do, right?"

"Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. We could have done business directly."

"You’re right, business is everywhere," Dean thought more clearly—the options for Byte Company were never limited to just one.

"OK, the same deal as last time. $5 million, and the ADPCM technology is Byte Company’s.

Dean, I need to remind you, that’s the offer AT&T made to us.

If you reject this deal today, it belongs to AT&T, and you know what that would mean."

"May I ask a question first, Mr. Duane?" Dean didn’t rush into the deal; he was just curious.

"Please do," Duane no longer underestimated the young man.

"Given the same price, why did Bell choose us? Forgive my bluntness, but AT&T seems to have a more special relationship with you."

"Because he didn’t respect me!" Duane replied, word by word. "Bell won’t be manipulated as a tool, Never!"

Yes, Bell would not be manipulated as a tool! Not by AT&T, not by MCI!

"OK," Dean responded, somewhat surprised by the answer. "But Mr. Duane, would you be interested in a bigger deal?"

"What?" Dean’s response surprised Duane in turn. "I don’t quite understand what you mean, Dean."

"Why don’t we work together?" Dean’s thoughts were now fully articulated. "Based on voice over internet protocol technology, Bell and Byte could form a joint venture."

"Wow," Duane was stunned by Dean’s proposal. "Sorry, I’m still a bit confused. A joint venture?"

"Yeah, we could totally collaborate in developing VoIP services," Dean began persuasively. "Rather than reject new technologies, why not embrace them?"

Dean then started to explain all the benefits of VoIP to Duane—low cost, multifunctionality, openness, flexibility, and so on.

"Look, we could completely cooperate. Network privatization is the future trend, and the VoIP market will be a new fertile ground."

"I need to think about it, Dean." Duane felt conflicted; he was both excited and fearful.

Duane was excited about the market potential that Dean described, but he also feared the huge impact VoIP could have on the traditional telephony market.

This was the business Bell relied on for its survival, and Duane had to consider it carefully.

"Mr. Duane, the fact is, MCI has already been in touch with us," Dean revealed a piece of insider information nonchalantly.

"What?!" Duane’s first reaction was disbelief. Was MCI crazy?

Didn’t they know what IP telephony would do to them? Then Duane suddenly remembered the indirect message from MCI.

That’s it, everything made sense when put together. Duane now finally understood why MCI had sent him that covert message.

They wanted to use him to pressure Byte Company, not anticipating that he would take the initiative to contact Dean.

Duane’s brain was racing. "Dean, what terms did MCI offer you?"

"Sorry, I can’t say too much. We owe our allies basic loyalty. Oh, and by the way, MCI also has its own voice encoding technology.

Byte Company actually has many options; we just want to find the most favorable one." Dean’s negotiation skills were increasingly polished.

"OK, I understand," Duane said, his gaze flickering, his thoughts inscrutable.