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MEDIA ADVISORY December 15, 1999 |
AUSTIN, TX -- The Office of Public Utility Counsel, the City of Troup, Texas, and Consumers Union have filed a petition with the Public Utility Commission calling on the PUC to conduct a hearing to determine if the pending merger between MCI WorldCom and Sprint is in the public interest and complies with Texas law.
The petitioners are particularly concerned about the merger's impact on local telephone competition in several areas of Texas where Sprint provides local service. Reduced competition in both local- and long-distance service in all likelihood would result in "higher telephone bills, reduced quality of service, a lessening of competitive alternatives and a reduction of the availability of technologically advanced services to all parts of the state."
MCI - the second largest long-distance company in the U.S. - has filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for approval of its proposed merger with Sprint, the third-largest long distance carrier. The companies anticipate that the merger would close in the second half of 2000.
However, under a Texas law known as the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA), the PUC is required to conduct a public interest review of any merger involving the sale of at least 50 percent of the stock of a utility. Under PURA, once the public utility has filed its case in support of the proposed merger, the PUC has 180 days to complete its investigation of the sale or merger and issue a final order.
For a copy of the petition click here. For more information, please call Janee Briesemeister (Consumers Union) at 512-477-4431; Rick Guzmán (OPUC) at 512-936-7500 or Jim Boyle (City of Troup) at 512-474-2507.
