Statement by Ralph Nader on Worldcom/MCI merger

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

fmi 202.387.8030, Ralph Nader <ralph@essential.org>
    Jamie Love, http://www.cptech.org
    love@cptech.org

Statement by Ralph Nader on Worldcom/MCI merger
March 10, 1998


We have asked the Department of Justice to stop the 
Worldcom/MCI merger.  The merger would hurt consumers in 
many ways, and would offer them no benefits whatsoever.  It 
would make long distance telephone service less competitive 
than it is today.  Among other things, the market segment 
served by discount resellers would be harmed by the merger.  


Secondly, and perhaps more important, the merger would give 
a single telephone company control over half or more of 
Internet backbone services.  Worldcom and MCI have both 
said they want to impose new usage based pricing on 
Internet backbone services.  This did not happen in the 
competitive market, but experts say it will be more likely 
once a single firm wields far more control over the 
Internet's backbone.  Worldcom is already being accused of 
a number of anticompetitive practices in Internet peering, 
and this would give Worldcom even more power to eliminate 
small ISPs who now compete with Worldcom.


There are many reasons to oppose the merger.  There is no 
reason to support the merger.  The FCC and the Department 
of Justice need to stop this merger cold, so consumers can 
benefit from competition, rather than suffer unnecessarily 
from monopoly.


-- 
James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
love@cptech.org | http://www.cptech.org
202.387.8030, fax 202.234.5176