Talk America to Acquire Network Telephone

"Talk America announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Network Telephone Corporation, a leading facilities-based communications provider serving business customers in the BellSouth region. The merger will extend Talk America's networking footprint to the Southeast and add significantly to its commercial services capabilities. The transaction will also allow Talk America to realize capital expenditure savings and networking synergies in the Atlanta market, where NTC has 22 end offices and Talk America has over 25,000 customers." Another example of CLEC consolidation. As UNE-P comes to a close in March, there will be lost revenue and lost customers. Network Tele was supposed to merge with ITC and FDN, but that went south. FDN bought Supra (a Resi UNE-P shop to bolster some customer numbers). Talk America was a UNE-P shop that merged with LDMI, a facilities-based CLEC in the Midwest, where many of Talk Am's customers were.

"Chief executive officers, Wall Street analysts and other telecom executives emphasize consolidation is necessary to strengthen the competitive industry, yet there are fewer mergers and acquisitions than many observers had anticipated."

McLeod hasn't found a buyer and neither has FDN, which has been rumored for sale since Feb.