Telecom Mergers Make Progress

[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Paul Davidson and Leslie Cauley]
The mergers of telecommunications giants SBC and AT&T along with Verizon and MCI could win approval from the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission by the end of the week. Apparently, SBC and Verizon have agreed to lease to rivals, on a long-term basis, their spare, or “dark,” fiber that runs to several hundred of the buildings as a condition to the merger approvals. Not all of the buildings would be affected, because SBC and Verizon argued that many are already served, or easily could be, by competitors with existing lines in the neighborhood. Justice and the companies are still haggling over how many buildings to include in the pacts, say the people with knowledge of the situation. At least one competitor has little interest in acquiring those lines, because SBC and Verizon would not be forced to also transfer the customers. “All I've got is an expense and no revenue,” says Heather Gold of XO Communications. The FCC will consider the mergers at its open meeting on Friday.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20051024/1b_merger24.art.htm