All told, this will give WorldCom more than 500, 000 local modem-access lines, making it the world's largest Internet-service provider.

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These microcells are small devices, about the size of a DSL or cable modem, that create a local cellular service zone up to about 40 feet from the device in which you can make and place cell phone calls and, if you have a smartphone, use data services to access the Internet.

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As long as BT controls the "local loop", the last link from the network to a phone or modem, and insists on metered access, it hardly pays to offer unmetered web deals.

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