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Technology Stocks : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RTev who wrote (8843)	4/30/1999 5:22:00 PM
From: DownSouth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

If AT&T retained significant control of the merged entity, don't you suppose WCOM would see a threat to its internet backbone business? No, WCOM would still have the backbone. Broadband is a medium to a branch of the backbone. It does not threaten the backbone. In fact, the more bb proliferates, the more backbone bandwidth WCOM will be able to provide. Do you think the RBOC lawyers who represent companies forced to provide open access to their DSL lines are going to accept that argument? The T/RBOC legal situation has a history, because of divestiture, that is complex and historic. The RBOC lawyers are going to be in a sticky situation. The arguments that are made to defend the cooperative nature of discussed bb mergers/acquisitions are much the same that the RBOCs have had to use in justifying their m/a's. The cable as a two com medium is exactly what deregulation was trying to promote. It is still an immature technology, early in its growth. I don't think "monopoly" has any relevance to what is going on. Now, 5 years from now, it may be a different story.