Regular reader Charlie Sierra, a smart man if there was any has an interesting insight into SBC and Yahoo’s relationship. I have trimmed his comments for all to read.

Regarding, SBC, the thing to really watch is how masterfully they’ve managed to co-opt Yahoo (ditto PCS’s MVNO with ATT), and pull them into the fold. As you recall SBC has enhanced and expanded its relationship with Yahoo on the heels of these new VoIP, TV, etc announcements. Yahoo is a very big deal because its a software talent, and software is crucial for any bigtime player because software is the manifestation of users habits. Thus you can’t truly own your customers unless you own the software they use. That my friends is the lesson of Mr Softie. Notice how SBC co-opted BellSouth via the Cingular partnership. Very capital efficient, no PMI. Hmmm. This is a high stakes game of musical chairs and the music has yet to stop, but when it does somebody is going home with nothing. So even telecom comes down to a RED state (SBC) vs. Blue state (VZ) drama.

Charlie points out that while Verizon has a hesitant relationship with MSN, it not like the close knit partnership of un-equals between SBC and Yahoo. What happens to Google? Who are the potential telecom dance partners for Google? Quite a few actually: cable MSO’s, Nextel, T-Mobile and Sprint PCS.