It would also bring labor unions, which are well entrenched in the former phone monopoly, to the barricades.

He considered cutting in on Hala's phone monopoly for a progress report from Yaeger.

It would have been the first merger of two state-owned phone monopolies.

Mr. Fitzgerald said it was the old phone monopoly's seemingly endless growth and resources that attracted him to begin working there in 1955.

In most European countries, the national telecommunications regulator works for the same government that owns a stake in the former phone monopoly.

And France's move may presage sales by other European governments of shares in their former phone monopolies.

The idea was to spin off local regulated phone monopolies, and then let long-distance companies flourish in more fertile competitive ground.

The phone monopolies have priced out 800 access.

These rapacious European phone monopolies have given birth to independent call-back services.

Many countries have phone monopolies that charge steep prices for making international calls.