SBC-Pacific Telesis Deal May Kick Off Merger Mania.(Originated from Tulsa World, Okla.)

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, April, 1996 by Busch, Melanie

Apr. 7--Is Ma Bell, the communications monopoly that was broken up 12 years ago, coming back in another form?

That's the question some observers are asking. They point to last week's merger of SBC Communications Inc. and Pacific Telesis Group, which marks the first time two Baby Bell telephone companies have joined.

The historic agreement, industry observers say, heralds a new era for other alliances in the telecommunications industry. Possibilities on the horizon, they predict, include unions between the remaining five Bell companies and long-distance and cable businesses. A few analysts even go so far as to envision the creation of a new national phone company similar to Ma Bell.

The Baby Bells -- finding their regional monopolies at risk since the...

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