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To: JDN who wrote (6887)	6/26/2000 11:13:00 AM
From: silicon warrior	Respond to of 11568

EU's Monti opposes Worldcom-Sprint merger for now WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said on Monday he will recommend rejecting Worldcom Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:WCOM - news) purchase of Sprint Corp. (NYSE:FON - news) if the companies make no changes to their current proposal to prevent competitive problems. ``My proposal to the commission will be to prohibit the merger,'' Monti told a news conference at the EU offices in Washington. Monti said that the period for the companies to propose a solution ``is over,'' and they face an absolute deadline of July 12 for a decision by the commission. In the meantime, Monti said he gotten no additional proposals from the companies and would approve one only under ``exceptional circumstances,'' which he would not identify. However, Monti said any proposals that would stand any chance of approval would need to clearly solve competitive problems. The commission has been looking at issues raised by the combined entities' potential dominance of international long-distance and Internet markets. Monti said he had met with one of his counterparts, Justice Department antitrust chief Joel Klein, and discussed the case. But he would not say whether the United States might act before the EU's July 12 deadline.

To: JDN who wrote (6887)	6/26/2000 2:04:00 PM
From: THE WATSONYOUTH	Respond to of 11568

Re: "Since WCOM has NO wireless how could they possibly say something wrong with that merger? JDN" I agree. But likely, WCOM is trying to hang on to at least some of the Sprint long distance customer base. But frankly, I don't understand those concerns either. I live in N.Y. I just dropped AT&T because of the monthly minimum charge for long distance (not a frequent user) in favor of Bell Atlantic (no such charge). Now, I find out AT&T will do likewise. Is this not the result of competition??? Why can't this happen with the other regional baby bells as well? This whole WCOM/Sprint merger fiasco really pisses me off. THE WATSONYOUTH