WorldCom/MCI deal finally gets the green light

EU commissioners have finally given their consent to the WorldCom/MCI merger.

A spokesman for the EU Competition Commissioner, Karel Van Miert, confirmed the merger will now go ahead, but refused to divulge the concessions the two telecoms giants had to make to get their marriage approved. WorldCom and MCI also declined to comment on the details of the negotiations.

Rivals of the two companies and other groups representing the interests of consumers and businesses claim the combined company will control too much of the Internet. US telcos such as GTE and Sprint were instrumental in getting regulators in Europe and North America to call for certain assets to be sold to prevent Net domination in return for approving the merger.

After MCI was told that selling its wholesale Internet business to Cable & Wireless would not be sufficient to get the EU's blessing, some analysts speculated WorldCom would have to sell off its successful ISP subsidiary, UUNet.

The EU's executive arm, the European Commission, said it will announce its formal approval of the merger on 8 July. Assuming US regulators are satisfied, WorldCom and MCI will then reveal which parts of their businesses have been jettisoned.