Verizon and MCI:

Verizon and MCI:
A Merger that
Promotes
Competition

August 2005

POLICY
STUDY
No. 05-1

by
Richard E. Wagner
Harris Professor of Economics
George Mason University; Fairfax, VA and Senior Fellow, Public Interest Institute
Mt. Pleasant, IA

POLICY STUDY

August 2005
No. 05-1
Public Interest Institute
Dr. Don Racheter,
President

Verizon and MCI:
A Merger that Promotes
Competition

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Contents

Executive Summary

3

Some Recent Telecom History

4

A Philosophical Sidebar on Mental Maps

7

Monopoly and Competition as Charted by Alternative
Mental Maps

10

Telecom as a Crucible of Dynamic Competition

13

Mergers and Organizational