Sorry, wrong numbers

AT & T gets this month's Time Warner Public Relations Award for its decision to announce-then quickly rescind-a phone rate hike only days after persuading the FCC to reduce the fees that AT & T and other long-distance services pay to local phone companies. With the ink not yet dry on the AT & T/MediaOne deal, which hinged on a host of AT & T promises that it would be a good actor, the move made it look greedy and either arrogant or a few digits shy of an area code. FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani felt misled, Kennard probably felt used, and AT & T is going to be under a microscope.