Washington Is Final State to Approve Verizon-MCI Transaction

With the approval last week by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, Verizon and MCI have successfully completed all the state, federal and international approvals for the two companies to be combined, according to a Verizon release.

The final state approval sets the stage for Verizon to close on its acquisition of MCI, as planned, early in January, after all requirements in the merger agreement are met.

Since the transaction was announced last February, the two companies had been seeking the approval of various regulatory agencies. The companies have now received formal approval from 22 states and the District of Columbia. Although additional formal approval was not required from other states, many of them reviewed the transaction, and either approved it or decided to take no further action.

"All the states that reviewed the combination of Verizon and MCI found that it was in the public interest and that customers will benefit," said Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president, public affairs, policy and communications. "Verizon's acquisition of MCI will ensure the continued presence of a national, full-service company with the technology and financial strength to deliver the broadband future and create economic growth for America. Verizon believes this combination is a great deal for both companies. And it's an even better deal for our customers."

Jim Lewis, MCI senior vice president of policy and planning, said, "The Verizon-MCI combination will capitalize on the complementary strengths of each company and benefit Washington businesses and consumers by creating one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Today's approval concludes the regulatory review process, and we look forward to delivering the benefits of this transaction to U.S. consumers and the enterprise market as a combined company."

The Verizon-MCI combination, part of the continuing evolution of the industry driven by customers and technology, will create one of the world's leading providers of communications services, said Verizon. The transaction will enable Verizon to better compete for and serve large-business and government customers with a full range of services, including wireless and sophisticated Internet protocol-based services. It will benefit consumers and businesses by creating a supplier with the financial strength to maintain and improve MCI's extensive Internet backbone network.