With over ninety members in the association, the requirement of one-third for an emergency meeting was easily met by the forty-two members who had called for it, thus ensuring the meeting could proceed.
However, the question remained: why were AT and SP so eager to convene this emergency meeting? It had only been a little over a week since the last one, making this sudden gathering rather peculiar.
The president dismissed the idea that these companies were acting out of concern for the association's reputation or to confront Stark Communications. He believed their sense of belonging to the association was not strong enough for them to be bothered by criticism directed at it. They wouldn't lose anything if the association was insulted. Was the time and travel cost for members to gather from across the United States not a factor?
"Sir, I believe it might indeed be a Stark issue!" the secretary explained. "I've heard that many members are very dissatisfied with the contract plan launched by Stark. They believe this plan violates industry standards and is maliciously creating cutthroat competition. Therefore, they likely want Stark Mobile Communications to withdraw this contract plan!"
"Oh!" The president's eyes lit up. Yes, this was undoubtedly the reason. Did each telecom company set its prices arbitrarily? Of course not. If that were the case, with so many telecom companies in the United States, a price war alone could completely destroy most mobile communication companies. The prices were actually set by the association. Members would meet and discuss an acceptable standard, and no company could offer prices below this standard without facing an association boycott. This was designed to prevent vicious competition between companies. Of course, this rule was unspoken; it couldn't be public knowledge as it would violate the law, which encouraged free competition. Generally, even if you violated the agreed-upon standard, as long as it wasn't too extreme, others wouldn't pay much attention or make a big fuss. But if you, like Stark, drastically cut prices by more than half, it was a clear indication that you intended to put others out of business.
Prior to this, representatives from AT had indeed spoken with Malik Omar. However, without his boss's permission, Malik Omar could not agree to anything. Since Versailles or Huang He had not given any instructions, Malik Omar could only reluctantly reject the representatives' demands. Consequently, these representatives directly requested a collective meeting to pressure Stark. Either Stark would immediately abandon its current contract plan, or everyone would collectively expel Stark, and Stark Mobile Communications Group's network would be forbidden from accessing the entire network.
This demand delighted the president. It was like receiving a pillow exactly when he was feeling sleepy. He was already pondering how to complete the task assigned by Motorola, and then the Stark Group made such a blunder. Could there be anything more gratifying? The president fully cooperated with the companies' demands and soon announced that an emergency meeting would be held in three days to discuss the issue of Stark Mobile Communications Company with all members. This timeframe was quickly conveyed to Billy Howard through Motorola, with the clear intention of using this opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to Jiangnan Group and Tianxing.
Everything seemed to be proceeding smoothly. The three days passed in the blink of an eye. The members who had only left the association headquarters a little over half a month ago were now returning in full force. Many people thought Malik Omar would not attend, or at least not come in person, but would send a representative, as the meeting was clearly targeting him. However, unexpectedly, Malik Omar not only attended but arrived very early, greeting everyone enthusiastically. Even though others were actively avoiding him, as if he were a pariah, he was cheerfully engaging with everyone. Malik Omar didn't seem to mind; he had grown accustomed to such situations during his time as a salesman and felt no psychological pressure or burden, simply smiling and returning to his seat.
The meeting then officially began. The president straightforwardly stated that someone was disrupting world order and harming the collective interests of all members. This was followed by smaller communication companies fiercely criticizing Stark's actions, while Malik Omar maintained a smile throughout, uttering not a single superfluous word, as if the accusations were not about his company.
After everyone had spoken until their mouths were dry, the president finally addressed Malik Omar, "Mr. Malik, have you understood everyone's stance? We now require a response from Stark Mobile Communications. Are you willing to withdraw your contract plan, which violates market regulations and rules?"
"Gentlemen, I do not believe this is a contract plan that violates market contract rules. On the contrary, I believe this is the contract plan that the future should possess!" Malik Omar stood up and spoke eloquently. "I believe that in the future, with the full advent of the 3G era, network traffic will be the primary business for mobile phones. Only voice calls, text messages, and other services will be replaced by network traffic services."
"Therefore, we should focus our services around network traffic, doing our best to lower network traffic fees and cultivate users' habits of using mobile networks."
"Once user habits for network usage are cultivated, they will pursue higher network traffic. When 3G networks begin to spread, we will be able to obtain more revenue from the greatly increased network traffic data. Therefore, cultivating user habits of network usage is our most important task at present!"
"At the same time, our communication companies' higher income can be derived from value-added services generated around network traffic, such as advertising and dedicated traffic services..."
The audience exchanged bewildered glances. They hadn't expected Malik Omar to present such a coherent argument, which seemed to align with the future development of mobile networks. Some representatives even nodded in agreement. Those attending this meeting were not fools or short-sighted individuals; they could generally ascertain that Malik Omar was describing a highly probable future.
However, Malik Omar's words could not change the situation or the minds of most members. Their concern was not about the future, but that Stark dared to violate the association's price standards now, and would undoubtedly become even more audacious later. Furthermore, Stark's business had been booming recently, adding nearly 300,000 users in just one week, and these users were clearly poached from their existing customer base. While the numbers per company were not large, it meant Malik Omar was infringing on everyone's interests, and it was unlikely they would tolerate him. Especially since he was now in such open conflict with the association, no one would coddle such a person.
"Alright, Mr. Malik, we are not interested in hearing your further excuses!" the president interrupted Malik Omar's speech. "You simply need to tell me, do you object, or do you agree with the association's opinion." As the president said this, he was inwardly pleading for Malik Omar to remain more defiant and not to falter at this critical moment, lest his mission be unfulfilled.
"I will not change my decision!" Malik Omar stated decisively.
"Very well, then I announce..." As the president was about to announce that all members would vote, Malik Omar suddenly added, "Mr. President, if our Stark Communications violates the price standards set by the association and faces the threat of being voted out of the association!"
"Then I would like to ask, in January this year, AT Communications launched a campus plan with prices clearly below industry standards, exceeding 30%."
"Additionally, in July last year, SP launched a contract plan tied to Motorola's latest low-cost models. This contract plan offered 100 minutes of talk time for just $9.9, which is much lower than our price. These issues clearly also violate the alliance's price standards. Shouldn't we first vote on these two issues?" Malik Omar questioned unceremoniously, causing the representatives of AT and SP to immediately darken their expressions. Malik Omar's statements were factual, but they were AT and SP, the leading enterprises in the U.S. mobile communication industry, each with a market value exceeding $60 billion. Was this something a small company like Stark Mobile Communications, with a peak market value of less than $3 billion, was qualified to question? Didn't the other smaller communication providers present completely ignore these issues? It wasn't that they were unaware, but rather that they couldn't do anything about these two giants. If they offended these two giants, the entire association might not be able to continue. Of course, these points couldn't be stated openly, so the two representatives glanced at the president, signaling him to resolve the issue.
The president nodded and said, "Mr. Malik Omar, as you have recently joined the association representing Stark Company, you may not be fully aware of some of our association's rules and regulations!"
"Our U.S. Mobile Communications Association was established in 1972, making it 32 years old. At its inception, there were only seven companies, and they were all the mobile communication operators in the entire United States. The communication networks they built also formed our nation's first-generation mobile communication network!"
"These seven founding members magnanimously chose to open their networks to the market, allowing all newly entering companies to connect their base stations to this network, thus achieving the feat of making one mobile phone capable of reaching any other communication company's phone. This formed the cornerstone of the current U.S. mobile communication industry!"
"Due to the great contributions of these seven founding members, the association specifically stipulated at its establishment that unless the association is dissolved, the seven founding members will always be members of the association, and no one is qualified to expel a founding member from the association!"
"And AT Company and SP Company are among the seven founding members that have been passed down from that time," the president stated, while the representatives of AT and SP displayed proud expressions. After all, the status of founding members was a true honor that money could not buy, as over 98% of the companies present had not even been established 32 years ago. What right did they have to acquire founding member status?