It looks like AT&T may have decided to join Google’s “open phone coalition” after all. When announcements were made about the coalition earlier this month, AT&T and Verizon Wireless were not on the list of over thirty companies planning to assist Google in the development of mobile phone software. Both carriers were lukewarm to the idea of letting the new technology work on their phones. Apparently AT&T is warming up to the idea. Wireless CEO Ralph de la Vega says that he hasn’t spoken with Google yet and is still "analyzing the situation" but appears to be leaning towards joining the alliance.

When the FCC deregulated DSL back in 2005, they effectively killed line sharing, though telcos in some markets are still forced to lease lines to competitors at reduced rates. Verizon, AT&T and Qwest have been fighting to shed such requirements in a number of metro markets. The telcos argue those regions are now competitive and recently asked for "forbearance" from FCC rules.

Competitors argue that eliminating these rules will price them out of the market.

Sprint Nextel CEO Gary Forsee took some shots at incumbent operators AT&T and Verizon on Tuesday, testifying before Congress that the FCC's deregulatory policies unfairly benefit incumbents and have resulted in market failure. Forsee was specifically complaining about the high volume business telecom market, 94.1% of which is controlled by the incumbents. Both AT&T and Verizon, of course, were having none of it, with AT&T insisting the market was thriving, and Verizon insisting that Sprint was "trying to use regulatory measures to undermine a successful market-based business environment." Also see AP report.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson tends to get all the credit – and all the flak – for the changes taking place with the company. But AT&T Group President Ralph de la Vega has more than a small hand to play in the company’s forward motion. According to a recent article, de la Vega is the brains behind the unbundling of landline / DSL (and the bundling of DSL with wireless which he explains in the article). Other AT&T issues that de la Vega has going on are an ad campaign accusing cable competitors of bait-and-switch pricing, expansion of broadband, and realistic development of U-verse (which the company says is going well with 2000 orders on peak days). The consensus so far is that de la Vega is up to the task.