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MCI/WorldCom Merger Puts Internet at Risk
CWA President Morton Bahr, consumer advocate Ralph Nader and a number of leading Internet experts stressed that the proposed MCI/WorldCom merger must be rejected because it would allow the combined company to wield monopoly control over critical Internet backbone services.
“The WorldCom/MCI Merger: Is the Internet at Risk,” was a Washington, D.C. symposium sponsored by CWA and the Consumer Project on Technology that brought together software creators, consumer advocates, Internet service providers, academic experts and other Internet developers and users to examine the anti-competitive impact of the proposed MCI/WorldCom merger.
Bahr noted that if the merger were permitted, MCI/WorldCom would control more than 60 percent of the Internet backbone, the key to the communications infrastructure. “Regulators have only a brief window of opportunity to prevent the concentration of ownership of the Internet from falling into the hands of a single owner,” he said, adding, “this deal is anti-competitive and violates federal antitrust standards.”
Nader stressed that the merger would offer no benefits to consumers and warned that companies want to impose new usage-based pricing on backbone services, which could give them the power to eliminate small ISPs.
A number of regulatory and review agencies have indicated that they are undertaking a serious review of concerns about this proposed merger. The U.S. Justice Department is continuing to review the merger, along with the Federal Communications Commission, several state public utility commissions and the European Commission.
“The WorldCom/MCI Merger: Is the Internet at Risk,” was a Washington, D.C. symposium sponsored by CWA and the Consumer Project on Technology that brought together software creators, consumer advocates, Internet service providers, academic experts and other Internet developers and users to examine the anti-competitive impact of the proposed MCI/WorldCom merger.
Bahr noted that if the merger were permitted, MCI/WorldCom would control more than 60 percent of the Internet backbone, the key to the communications infrastructure. “Regulators have only a brief window of opportunity to prevent the concentration of ownership of the Internet from falling into the hands of a single owner,” he said, adding, “this deal is anti-competitive and violates federal antitrust standards.”
Nader stressed that the merger would offer no benefits to consumers and warned that companies want to impose new usage-based pricing on backbone services, which could give them the power to eliminate small ISPs.
A number of regulatory and review agencies have indicated that they are undertaking a serious review of concerns about this proposed merger. The U.S. Justice Department is continuing to review the merger, along with the Federal Communications Commission, several state public utility commissions and the European Commission.