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MCI / WCOM / UUNET
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WorldCom (UUNet)

"WorldCom operates 30 percent of the bandwidth on the 20 largest U.S. Internet backbone routes-more than the next four providers combined.  WorldCom connects over 3,400 networks throughout the world-Sprint and AT&T each connect less than half as many.  In 2001, WorldCom accounted for at least 30 percent of the wholesale U.S. backbone access market-three times more than its largest rival." - Telegeography, WorldCom Controls the Most Internet Bandwidth, Connections, and Revenue (July 10, 2002)

"10. WorldCom's UUNET subsidiary is by far the largest provider of Internet backbone services in the world, whether measured by traffic or revenues. UUNET's backbone network extends from North America to Europe and Asia, and serves more than 70,000 businesses in 114 countries. UUNET offers a wide range of retail and wholesale Internet backbone services, including "dial-up" (i.e., through shared modem banks) and dedicated Internet access (i.e., through direct connections to the customer), as well as value-added services such as Internet protocol virtual private networks ("IP/VPNs"), website hosting, collocation at data centers, applications hosting, and Internet security services.
       32.  WorldCom's wholly owned subsidiary, UUNET, is by far the largest Tier 1 IBP by any relevant measure and is already approaching a dominant position in the Internet backbone market. Based upon a study conducted in February 2000, UUNET's share of all Internet traffic sent to or received from the customers of the 15 largest Internet backbones in the United States was 37%, more than twice the share of Sprint, the next-largest Tier 1 IBP, which had a 16% share. These 15 backbones represent approximately 95% of all U.S. dedicated Internet access revenues. UUNET's and Sprint's 53% combined share of Internet traffic is at least five times larger than that of the next-largest IBP. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index ("HHI"), the standard measure of market concentration (defined and explained in Appendix A), indicates that this market is highly concentrated. The HHI in terms of traffic is approximately 1850; post-merger, the HHI will rise approximately 1150 points to approximately 3000. (Note: Throughout the Complaint, market share percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number, but HHIs have been estimated using unrounded percentages in order to accurately reflect the concentration of the various markets.)"
-- DOJ Complaint re WCOM Sprint Merger

Timeline

MCI

The joke is that in its early years, MCI had more lawyers than land lines or that it was "A law firm with an antenna on the roof".

WorldCom / Intermedia (Digex) Merger

2004: Allegiance / Qwest Merger proceeding, terminated on notice that Allegiance had been acquired by XO

2003 Allegiance filed for Bankruptcy. [US Bankruptcy Court 2004]

1/14/02 Allegiance acquires Intermedia Backbone. Network World :: Allegiance Telecom Acquires Intermedia Business Internet Assets from WorldCom, WCOM Press Release Jan. 3, 2002 (" WorldCom was obligated to sell the IBI assets pursuant to a consent decree entered into by WorldCom and Intermedia in connection with their merger last year ")

11/20/01 Public Notice -- Common Carrier, International, and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Modify Worldcom-Intermedia Merger Conditions, DA 01-2727

9/19/01 Public Notice -- Comments Requested On Additional Information Submitted by WorldCom Relating To Its Acquisition of Intermedia, DA 01-2199

9/14/01 Grant of WorldCom's request for special temporary authority by Michelle Carey, Chief, Policy and Program Planning Division, Common Carrier Bureau, FCC

9/12/01 Letter/request for special temporary authority from A. Richard Metzger, Jr. and Ruth Milkman, Attorneys for WorldCom, Inc., to Michelle Carey, Chief, Policy and Program Planning Division, Common Carrier Bureau, FCC

9/12/01 Letter/response to informal data request from A. Richard Metzger, Jr. and Ruth Milkman, Attorneys for WorldCom, Inc., to Michelle Carey, Chief, Policy and Program Planning Division, Common Carrier Bureau, FCC

8/31/01 Letter from A. Richard Metzger, Jr. and Ruth Milkman, Attorneys for WorldCom, Inc., to Michelle Carey, Chief, Policy and Program Planning Division, Common Carrier Bureau, FCC

1/17/01 Memorandum Opinion and Order (approving merger)

3. On Nov 17, 2000, DOJ announced it had reached a settlement agreement with the Applicants to resolve antitrust concerns that the acquisition would result in higher prices and lower quality of services in the Internet backbone market. The agreement calls for WCOM and Intermedia to divest, within six months after the close of the merger, all the "Intermedia Assets," defined as all business operations and assets of Intermedia except for the capital stock of Digex. Applicants agreed with DOJ to a Hold Separate Stipulation and Order, which required Intermedia to "preserve, maintain, and continue to operate the Intermedia Assets as an independent, ongoing economically viable competitive business, with management, sales, and operations of such assets held entireless separate, distinct, and apart from those of WorldCom;s operations until WorldCom and Intermedia obtain the regulatory approvals required to close the divestiture.

12/19/00 Worldcom and Intermedia Reply to Petition to Deny Application for Consent to Transfer Control

12/6/00 Petition of AT&T Corp. To Deny Application To Transfer Control

11/27/00 WorldCom, Inc. et al. provides copy of the Complaint filed by the United States Department of Justice on November 17, 2000 in connection with the Worldcom/Intermedia transaction .

11/20/00 WorldCom, Inc. et al. notifies that the parties have entered into a Hold Separate Stipulation and Order with the United States Department of Justice relating to the disposition of the Intermedia assets

US v WCOM, Intermedia, Complaint (Nov. 17, 2000)

1. WorldCom has attained (primarily through a series of acquisitions) a commanding position in the ownership and operation of the "backbone" networks that connect the thousands of smaller networks that constitute the Internet. WorldCom is the largest of a small group of top tier providers of Internet "backbone" network services in the United States and the world.

2. Intermedia also owns and operates an Internet backbone and provides connectivity service throughout much of the United States.

3. The proposed merger of WorldCom and Intermedia threatens to cause significant harm to competition in one of the nation's most important telecommunications markets. By adding to WorldCom's leading position in the Internet backbone market, the proposed acquisition is likely substantially to lessen competition in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 18. The United States therefore seeks an order permanently enjoining the merger.

11/07/00 Intermedia Communicatons Inc. Protective Agreement

11/6/00 Commission Seeks Comment On Application For Consent To Transfer Control Filed By Worldcom, Inc. And Intermedia Communications Inc.

11/6/00 Order Adopting Protective Order

1997 Intermedia acquires Digex web hosting service for $150 million. [Business Wire]

1987 Intermedia Founded

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