Real or fiction?

Real or fiction?

Concentration could go a step further in the US with a possible SBC/ Bellsouth merger. It is the last rumor validated by some telecom and financial analysts. And certainly the deal makes sense for both companies that share Cingular Wireless. Can strong wireline operators be out of the market when fixed-mobile convergence is emerging. All surveys highlight the consumer demand of increased bundled fixed and mobile services. With AT&T and Cingular, SBC has now the tools to serve enterprise customers across the US, and therefore into Bellsouth' s region. Bellsouth ' strategy is not very different, rising complicated questions about strategy and marketing policies of the two Cingular shareholders. Some analysts believe the two companies have entered serious talks on several occasions in the past, and the completion of the deals SBC/AT&T and Verizon/MCI is a new opportunity. For some the real question now is When, and some predict it will be announced within 24 hours after SBC close the deal with AT&T.

It will not be too long to know.