AT&T Spits On Google, Gloats Over Tech Company’s Broadband Hardships

Reports about Google being forced to downsize amid disappointing subscriber numbers came out recently, highlighting the challenges that ISPs have to face despite appealing offers. This is something that AT&T knows and the telco was more than happy to kick the search engine company while it was down while gloating that it didn’t have what it took to stay in the game.

The mobile carrier recently posted an article, which had the title "Broadband Investment: Not for the Faint of Heart," offering a clear picture of exactly what AT&T thought of Google’s attempt at entering the business. After going through a list of promises that the Alphabet Inc. division could not fulfill, the telco then proceeded to throw a ball of spit at the fledgling competitor.

"We’ll be watching your next move from our rear view mirror,” the post reads. “Oh, and pardon our dust."

As Business Insider pointed out, having a competitor like Google that provides 1GB internet speeds at fairly low prices was a huge threat to existing, major carriers. So any news that indicated that the upstart was failing could only be good news for AT&T.

Even so, it is startling to see the telco acting so immature as to taunt Google while they are going through some tough times. The post not only comes off as demeaning, it also makes the company look incredibly juvenile, especially as a major entity in the industry.

Even as AT&T tells Google about how tough competition can be in the ISP business, however, it can’t be ignored that the telco has used every tactic to keep its position at the top. As Ars Technica reports, AT&T has powerful lobbying capacity, which it uses to keep competitors from infringing on its territory.

The company’s influence in Nashville, Tennessee is a good example of how rabidly it tries to maintain its dominance, which directly contributed to Google’s troubles in the region. Essentially, AT&T is mocking Google because of difficulties that AT&T itself has played a hand in. Google has made no comment about the post.