BellSouth, AT&T Talking Merger Again

The Wall Street Journal reported that the two companies "have come within days of striking an agreement at least twice," but added that the remaining hurdles include price and strategic risks for the regional Bell. Regulatory obstacles including antitrust issues would also have to be addressed before there could be a merger.

Although the regulatory environment is considered more amenable to mergers in recent months, a merger between the two firms would fly in the face of the original break up of the Bell System in which regional Bells were spun off from AT&T.

This story courtesy of InformationWeek .