Now, they must go for market-share stability, because the local telephone companies ... are coming into this market, perhaps in a year or so.

In essence, these companies have gone (in past) for revenue rather than market-share stability.

To me the combination is a very sensible one. It's a good mix. Alcatel has done very, very well in the United States and elsewhere, but there's not that much overlap (with Lucent), so I think it's a powerful global position, possibly forcing Nortel and Ericsson to get together.

Having to search for a chairman and CEO could delay the turnaround for some period of time. They have a somewhat diminished but still strong market position.

WorldCom is frustrated because Wall Street investors just look at the total company. Wall Street isn't giving them credit for their growth.

Ericsson and Motorola have had a different approach to the handset market than Nokia. Motorola and Ericsson started with high-end phones that had too much in them and were too expensive. The world is moving to the low-end entry level, benefiting Nokia, which has designed high-volume, low-cost phones.