13 JUNE 1992, Page 22

The Bells toll

JOHN PRESCOTT and I, fellow members of the Hull Telephone Fan Club, must mourn the death of William McGowan. Hull is Britain's last surviving local tele- phone company. The United States has a whole clutch of them — the Baby Bells because McGowan broke the stranglehold of AT&T, 'Ma Bell'. The son of an engine driver, he got involved with a new company, MCI, for controlling long-distance freight, found that it invaded AT&T's entrenched position, took on AT&T in the courts, and won. The break-up into Baby Bells fol- lowed. People thought (said McGowan) that AT&T was just too large and loved to be tackled. British Telecom, which so needs a McGowan, is scarcely too loved.