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

To: John Coltrane who wrote (4439)	5/7/1999 1:39:00 AM
From: Chadick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11568

I have searched the GTE and the BEL web sites and there is not much info on the merger. I was thinking that BEL would have long distance because of merging with GTE who is already a long distance provider. Of course it is not that simple; there are hoops to jump thru. About 18 to 24 months ago there was a story in Fortune about GTE and how it was unique because unlike the baby Bells, it provided local and long distance. My phone service provider is GTE. Cable TV was provided by TCI until 12 months ago when Lucent finished constructing a digital fiber-optic cable. GTE also has cable internet and DSL lines. A DSL line is $35 per month and $99 installation. You still need an ISP. My local ISP will not support DSL until Nov. when they get their line in. GTE Worldwind cable internet is $39.95 per month, free installation and they are the ISP. So dropping 1 phone line and current ISP makes cable internet attractive. Regarding WCOM: I walked to the supermarket this afternoon and the WIRED magazine was in the magazine section. Bernie was on the cover. I would never bet against him or get in a poker game with him. I glanced at the article about WCOM and it said there had been 63 acquisitions in the last 5 years. Fred