When looking at the moves of the 'baby' bells to link up, a little history is probably appropriate at this moment. In 1952 (I think it was 52, it might have been 56) WECO owned the bell system as a whole and A.T.T. Long Lines was a (relatively small) department within the holding corporation. To get into the satelite business (the USSR was about to launch Sputnik), Ma Bell was forced to divest its holdings by the Federal Government (sound familiar) in order to be allowed to compete for government contracts to launch satelites. In less than a decade, the nationwide corporation had reformed with ATT as the official holding corporation of all the local bell companies. So, what did everyone expect in 1984? Competition? Lower prices? maggie coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED]