Legislative Hangover

摘要

Do telecommunications mergers help or hurt competition? Good question. Hard answer. As mergers transform the telecom industry, it's difficult to separate their impact from the impact of new technologies, deregulation and other changes. And with or without mergers, competition was bound to happen. Even so, telecom mergers and acquisitions have marked the industry indelibly. Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 became law, U.S. carriers have completed or announced at least 33 deals totaling more than $492 billion (Table 1). The M&As range from mere multimillion-dollar blips to mind-boggling deals that grow like Pinocchio's nose. MCI WorldCom and Sprint hope to consummate a $129 billion marriage. The America Online/Time Warner stock swap is valued at $164 billion.