Joe:
re: MFS WorldCom
This isn't in response to your message, but rather a general question. I'm fairly new to SI. This is my 1st post, although I've been reading it for over a week, thanks to Joe Medsker.
You may have touched on this before but I missed it. In the Sept. issue of InfoWorld there was a short article that caught my eye. Sounds like more competition headed our way. Have you heard of them and what have they really got??
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MFS and WorldCom announce merger plans:
Long-distance provider WorldCom Inc. last week announced a $14.4 billion agreement to merge with MFS Communications Co. Inc., allowing it to offer global telephone and Internet services focused on business users.
The merged company will be called MFS WorldCom Inc., and it will be bigger than most of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). It will also top MCI in both its revenues and existing customer base.
The merger is unique in that it creates a company solely focused on the business community, according to a report by Caroline M. Robertson, an analyst at International Data Corp., in Framingham, Mass.
"The combination of these companies will prove a powerful competitor to RBOCs and other inter-exchange carriers that must balance operations between business and consumer customers in the face of a new telecommunications landscape," Robertson said.
MFS, a phone service provider based in Omaha, Neb., acquired commercial Internet provider Uunet Technologies Inc. in April at a cost of $2 billion.
WorldCom, based in Jackson, Miss., is paying 2.1 shares of its stock for each MFS share, with the condition that shareholder approval of both companies is received.
Robertson said that the merger has a broader significance that its impact on corporate communications.
"This merger reflects an economic shift in this country," Robertson said. "Two key industries in the development of this country have been construction and oil. [They] are closely tied to this merger."
MFS has close ties with a major construction company, and WorldCom's fiber network was built along oil giant Williams Co.'s pipelines.
"What [they] have been able to do is what the railroads did not - grasp their opportunities," Robertson said. "The competencies that helped create two successful old-line companies are being leveraged to succeed in a new core industry - telecommunications."
* Annual revenues of about $5.4 billion
* More than 500,000 business customers in North America, Europe, and Asia.
* An end-to-end fiber network with 25,000 miles of fiber connecting all major US cities.
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Have you or anyone else heard of this merger? Looks like another player in the arena.
BTW, thanks for the Dayton meeting. I was there and I learned a LOT.
In for the long haul,
Dave Francisco |
