1.   Consumers will probably have to pay for these savings by withstanding a blitz of advertising as the big players all vie to provide their local and long-distance service.

2.   Having lost the potential for complete control of the set-top box, Microsoft now finds itself just one of several companies vying to provide the operating system.

3.   Intel Corp., for one, is vying to provide the microprocessors for the boxes.

4.   Not so, insist executives in the cable and telephone industries, which are vying to provide faster means of transmitting data.

5.   The pool of firms vying to provide airline passengers with high-speed Internet service just got another player.

6.   The governments of Canada, Japan and the United States, as well as nuclear companies are vying to provide nuclear technology for the plants.