Corporate Power: ITTT

Interstellar Trade, Transport and Telecommunication (ITTT)

Source: Brian Bell

Summary Information

Category: Unofficial 
Political Power: 2
Military Power:  1
Economic Power:  4
Size:		 1

Comments

>From the corporate brochure:
ITTT is the brainchild of Michael Sharpe. Mr. Sharpe, owner of several
large
corporations, fled the USA in 2048, just prior to the collapse of the US
economy. Having placed most of his holdings overseas, the collapse and
following 'pacification' had a major, but not catastrophic impact on his
assets. He spent the next 10 years in speculative investment (some paid
off,
some were written off) including heavy funding of an asteroid mining
firm
and minor investment in the Gilderstien Foundation. In late 2060 he
stumbled
across the real reason that the Gilderstein Foundation's L5 lab
disappeared.
He set everything in motion to form the ITTT but waited for the official
announcement in 2061.

ITTT was founded in 2067 by a group of private individuals and selected
corporations. The planned colonization of the AF and EC presented an
opportunity. ITTT agreed to sponsor quarterly transits to the new
colonies
in exchange for a 99 year exclusive contract for transportation of goods
(non-government, non-military), people (after 1 year) and communication.
FTL
travel, was a hugely expensive (and somewhat dangerous) proposition. The
expense of sending goods by FTL seemed to make it a guaranteed financial
loss. The deep pockets of ITTT allowed them to take the long view of
such a
venture. The governments, wanting to invest in expansion rather than on
the
support of colonies, agreed to the terms. The company was driven to the
brink of bankruptcy several times. But as colonies grew in size, the
trips
began to make a profit and shipments increased in frequency. The vast
majority of colonies signed a contract with ITTT. Those that did not
initially, did after a couple of years of infrequent supplies from their
governments. In 2080, ITTT expanded into the expensive field of FTL
communications. FTL communications huge power cost and dangerous
environmental impact make it only practical to mount such communication
relays on unpopulated asteroids. ITTT's asteroid mining operations
provided
it with a vast amount of organic knowledge about the operations of bases
on
asteroids. FLT communication is still only employed by major worlds (and
only by the Government and major corporations) due to the cost of
operation.
By 2100, ITTT was showing a hansom profit. ITTT settled one of the moons
of
Saturn (TBA) and expanded their mining and ship building operations. In
2108, it faced separate challenges from the NAC, and ESU to its right to
the
moon of Saturn. However military protection by the USNC and a boycott of
shipments to the government colonies quickly ended each of the
challenges.
In 2113, ITTT laid claim to the system of (TBA) and moved their
headquarters
there. Currently (circa 2180's) ITTT has contracts with the majority of
colonies and maintains a large market share of the FTL transportation
and
communications industries on the major worlds.

ITTT is based on a 3 line mantra:
	Fair Prices
	Good Service
	Long View

Not in the corporate brochure:
Jon Tuffley stated "The GZG universe has NO GOOD GUYS" (paraphrased).
This
is certainly true of ITTT. 

It is by nature a company that thrives in a monopolistic setting. It is
ruthless in defending its contracts. It employees a large (by corporate
standards) force of Q-ships and a military force comprised of a fleet of
military class ships (escorts and troopships) and a fair contingent of
marines. They have a "black ops" section that is thoroughly active.

On the other hand it sets a standard rate for FTL transport. The rate is
based on transit time, risk, and who assumes the responsibility for
ships
lost to hostile action (raiders/pirates/terrorists/military). This
policy
has allowed ITTT to stave off the "nationalization" of trade routes and
FTL
communication.

All initial contracts between ITTT and new colonies contain 4 clauses:
	Exclusive FTL transportation and communication rights for 99
years.
	A permanent land grant to operate an Embassy (treated as foreign
soil) .
	The permanent right to defend its ships within the system.
	Who assumes responsibility for ships lost to hostile action.
-----
Brian Bell
bkb@beol.net
http://fly.to/fullthrust/    
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