MCI's dream of offering integrated long-distance, local and Internet access without having to pay the Baby Bells their current tariff of 45 cents out of every dollar of long-distance revenues.

ECONOMIST: WorldCom tucks in��again

RBOCs to open their local monopolies to competitors in exchange for access to long-distance services.

ECONOMIST: Call waiting

That task grew more difficult in May, when news broke that federal prosecutors were looking into allegations that MCI, since 1994 and be-fore merging into WorldCom, had be-gun illegally disguising long-distance calls as local ones to avoid paying the Bells millions of dollars in access fees--and continues to do so.

FORBES: Screaming Match

In turn, the utility can offer its ratepayers a package of some two dozen consumer services, including Internet access, appliance protection, satellite television, long-distance telephone service, carbon-monoxide protection and security.

ECONOMIST: Electricity marketing: Not as billed | The

The company maintains 20 million access lines in service, has approximately 7.2 million long-distance customers and nearly 2.9 million digital-subscriber-line subscribers.

FORBES: AT&T's Call For Relevance