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Technology Stocks : WCOM -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SteveG who wrote (2489)	5/27/1998 9:43:00 PM
From: jim black	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11568

To anybody with a reasoned opinion: I have some concerns for the first time since I've held Worldcom. I actually date back to the prehistoric days when I bought MFS Communications. We bought UUNet back then and then were gobbled up by Bernie. TODAY I heard David Faber on CNBC say right after the close that WCOM was in hushed talks to divest itself of internet services, namely UUNET!!!! Anybody have any more information? I truly wonder at the value of the company if they sell all their business internet services. ALL of the analysis I've read on the company, Vaulue Line, Argus Research, etc., etc., all emphasize in discussions the value of internet backbone. Who else is feeling sick to your stomach? And why?

To: SteveG who wrote (2489)	5/28/1998 5:08:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 11568

Bloomberg - Cable & Wireless Buys MCI Internet Units; Bezeq Stake (Update1) Bloomberg News May 28, 1998, 12:49 a.m. PT Cable & Wireless Buys MCI Internet Units; Bezeq Stake (Update1) (Adds statement from C&W in 4th paragraph; C&W shares in 5th paragraph) London, May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Cable & Wireless Plc said it will buy the MCI Communications Corp.'s Internet network and service business for 385 million pounds ($625 million) in cash, after regulators forced WorldCom Inc. to sell the units in order to buy MCI. The move is expected to win Worldcom approval for its $41.8 billion acquisition of MCI. Cable & Wireless's acquisition of MCI's Internet business will dramatically improve its position in the market for international Internet traffic, the fastest growing segment of the telecommunications industry. It also gives it a significant position in the U.S. market, something it has lacked until now. ''The Internet is a vital element of our growth engine,'' said Richard H. Brown, chief executive of Cable & Wireless in a statement. ''It gives us the scale and scope we need in the United States to match our leading role in the rest of the world.'' Cable & Wireless's shares rose as much as 3.8 percent, or 26 pence to 705 pence. European Union Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert, concerned that a combined WorldCom-MCI would have too much control over global Internet traffic, told WorldCom and MCI in a letter earlier this month they must sell either MCI's Internet business or Uunet -- a WorldCom unit, before it would approve WorldCom's purchase of MCI. If one of the Internet units is sold, the European Commission, the executive agency of the EU, would approve the Worldcom acquisition, an EU official said. Regulators Concerned The U.S. Justice Department is also reviewing the antitrust implications of the transaction, and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission must decide whether it is in the ''public interest.'' Van Miert said yesterday that U.S. regulators share his concern over the Internet dominance issue, and that they're working closely together to get concessions from the companies. In a separate statement, Cable & Wireless also agreed to pay $63 million to raise its holding in Bezeq Ltd., Israel's state-controlled telecommunications service company to 12.75 percent. The U.K.-based telecommunications company already owns 10.2 percent of Bezeq and has permission to increase its holding to 20 percent after a minimum of 18 months. Its move to raise its position in Bezeq advances its international expansion strategy and conforms with its plan to raise stakes in companies it can control and sell stakes in those it can't. --Dawn Hayes in the London newsroom (44-171) 330 7784/mn