Galaxy Domination Guide

Bai Zhongqi's expression did not change at all; he was fully aware of the image and reputation of the major telecommunications service providers in the country. These powerful monopolistic enterprises had millions of employees, and including personnel from the surrounding industrial chain, the scale was enormous.

The most dominant telecom operators were making hundreds of millions a day in profits, lying down, and the other few were no different. Known for their vast user coverage, poor service, and low quality, they were constantly criticized by advocates of the free market who insisted on enhancing private competition, yet the core of the issue was still the excessive profits.

The technology of Sky Net was disruptive, even destructive, as it completely demolished the existing forms of telecommunications services, signifying a doomsday revelation for the industry.

However, for these monopolistic enterprises, Sky Net also presented a tremendous temptation. The construction cost, development cost, and maintenance cost had almost dropped to zero, allowing these companies to retain essential components like their marketing teams and customer service teams. Even if the supporting tariffs fell, they were still making money.

In Xiang Fei's office, Sui Rong, a general manager from a monopolistic telecommunications service provider, sat there with a face full of pretentious helplessness, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"Director Xiang, it's not that we oppose the introduction of such excellent technology by the government; it's beneficial for the country and the people, and our company fully supports it, even more eager to provide better services to our users. But this transition is quite challenging. Our company alone has 570,000 employees, with millions more involved indirectly.

Other companies may not be as large as ours, but they are certainly not small. If we rashly adopt Sky Net, millions will lose their jobs, which would be a massive blow to the nation."

Xiang Fei was relatively calm. Sipping his tea, he sat behind his desk and looked at the general manager in charge of the transition, saying, "That's why the state has established a special office to plan and conduct the transition affairs. I called you here because I hope to hear what plans your enterprise might have."

Sui Rong immediately leaned forward to hand over a document to Xiang Fei, saying, "Yes, yes, thank you, Director Xiang and all the leaders. Here is the preliminary plan proposed by our company."

Xiang Fei briefly looked at it, furrowing his brows tightly, and said, "Free access to Sky Net being turned into paid access? The services you previously provided have merely been renamed and you plan to continue, and you're even planning to throttle Sky Net's speed?"

Sui Rong immediately explained, "The throttling part is based on research; the speed of 100 Tbps is something ordinary people really don't need. Even providing a basic 2 Gbps would fully meet most users' needs, and the user experience would be incomparable to previous networks.

For higher speeds, they could be offered to businesses and academic institutions that require them, charging different fees for different services."

Xiang Fei retorted, "Research? You're conducting your research based on current and past experiences, but we are heading towards a new path. Old experiences aren't very valuable as references."

He paused, pointing to the figures in the plan, and said, "Your tariff rates, the monthly expenses for ordinary users are not much lower than before, and the charges for high-level services are even more than before."

Sui Rong then said, "Director Xiang, tens of thousands of people in our company, along with related industry personnel, all need to eat. Moreover, our company is also a major taxpayer for the state. If we cut too harshly, this industry's severe contraction will have a significant negative impact on the nation's economic strategy and fiscal health.

We are also considering market economics, acting according to the principles of economic development."

Xiang Fei furrowed his brow and asked, "Your employees need to eat, so why does this plan still include layoffs of up to a hundred thousand people?"

Sui Rong said, "That's normal, Director Xiang. Sky Net is a revolutionary technology. Simply by using the space-based communication facilities provided by Iridium Star, we can achieve national coverage. We no longer need to build any base stations or need construction teams. Moreover, other related positions have become unnecessary.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The nation is also streamlining the administration to improve administrative efficiency, so we cannot keep idle staff, can we? However, our company will not neglect these employees. We will provide very generous treatments, and we hope the nation will allow us to invest in subsidiaries in other industries to accommodate such a large number of staff.

Of course, relying solely on our company's efforts, it's difficult to place such a large number of laid-off workers. We can't do it without the support of the nation."

Xiang Fei's expression turned completely cold as he said, "Manager Sui, your company is really playing a clever game. As soon as Sky Net was launched, you cut at least half of your costs, and then you also strategically laid off staff, saving on labor costs. With this approach, your company not only avoids losses but also stands to make a huge profit.

You leave the messy aftermath for the nation and the government to solve, and in the end, your company reaps all the benefits, doesn't it?"

Sui Rong, however, was not intimidated by Xiang Fei's questioning. He defended himself, saying, "Director Xiang, the way you put it, our company is a state-owned enterprise, responsive to commands and politically compliant. But for a company to develop and an industry to progress, we must operate according to market principles, right?

If the company profits, it's also a profit for the nation and society. What advantage can we personally take? As a high-level executive in the head office, my monthly salary is just over thirty thousand. Which private company's management team would have such a low salary? We are all wholeheartedly dedicated to the nation without any personal agendas."

Xiang Fei absolutely did not believe Sui Rong's nonsense. Perhaps on the surface, high-level executives like Sui Rong didn't earn much, but these monopolistic enterprises are interest groups within themselves. Just by holding positions within the company, they can accrue benefits. These benefits aren't necessarily economic, but economic aspects can't be ruled out either.

Xiang Fei did not want to waste more words with Sui Rong, but subsequently, the proposals given by people from other companies he met were much the same. Xiang Fei scoffed. These enterprises had grown accustomed to throwing their weight around within the industry, and being essential public products the nation and people couldn't do without, their bargaining power was particularly strong.

Nobody wanted to cut their own flesh at this time. Instead, they all eyed the pie falling from the sky, thinking about how to divide it.

What the nation truly needed, what society needed, and what would benefit the people might be considerations for a few conscientious individuals within these monopolistic enterprises, but the power of the interest groups was too strong, naturally opposing anything that threatened their interests.

Xiang Fei was also very troubled. In terms of universe exploration and the Star Alliance political structure, Country C had basically reached an agreement with the Iridium Star United Empire. The sticking point was the transitional phase of transformation. Not only the telecommunications industry faced this issue, but nearly every powerful industry had similar problems, albeit to different degrees.

In the area of electricity, Star Alliance proposed an outright phasing out of fossil fuel combustion, starting with abandoning coal and then eliminating oil and natural gas. The change would involve using nuclear fusion as the primary source of energy, along with a comprehensive change to a remote wireless power transmission model provided by Iridium Star technology, from construction to operation.

The electric power system's transformation and transition also faced numerous obstacles.

The situation for the three major oil companies was slightly better; during the transition period, a large amount of fuel would still be needed. The newer refining equipment provided by Star Alliance would expand the refining capabilities and product lines of these oil companies, bringing about a period of rapid growth in the short term.

Although in the future, it was predicted that these oil companies would continue to develop oil and natural gas, their products would change to providing carbon and other products to Iridium Star and Country C.

The steel and smelting industries were almost in the depths of winter. Neuron production lines could turn a potentially tiny steel mill, employing a hundred people, into a facility producing hundreds of millions of tons of steel annually. All the existing equipment and technology of the smelting industry would be obsolete, and many workers would need new career paths.

Thinking of all these made Xiang Fei particularly troubled. Joining the alliance signified a significant opportunity for Country C, but the challenges were also tremendously large. If the transitional issues were not handled well, the long-term achievements of Country C could be destroyed in an instant.

Furthermore, Country C could not afford to back down from joining the alliance; it had no choice but to bravely move forward.