71.   The company has also teamed with BellSouth Corp., the Atlanta-based regional phone company, in a joint venture to provide software and services.

72.   The FCC rules would also require that potential rivals be able to provide equivalent service to that furnished by the regional phone companies.

73.   The FTC has been studying the effects of the merger on regional phone companies, which have been used heavily by AOL for high-speed Internet service.

74.   The Federal Communications Commission ruled recently that regional phone companies must share lines with competitors like Covad.

75.   The main thrust of the law is to eliminate barriers that have prevented regional phone companies, long-distance carriers and cable and utility companies from competing with one another.

76.   The new law divides NTT into two regional domestic phone companies -- one for Tokyo, the other for the Osaka area -- and one long-distance carrier.

77.   The money goes to pay phone owners, primarily the big regional phone companies.

78.   The only hitch is that some of its primary potential customers, the large regional phone companies, are slowing equipment spending this year.

79.   The Philadelphia-based Baby Bell is the last of the seven regional phone companies to set terms with the union.

80.   The prudent course might be to wait until regional markets are truly open before approving a merger that further entrenches the power of regional phone behemoths.