Leading telecom-equipment supplier Lucent Technologies sold $1.75 billion of 15-year convertible trust preferred securities in the 144a private placement market, said market sources.
McCain is concerned that the deployment of broadband technology could lead to telecom companies avoiding investments in rural or low-income areas, a practice that has been termed "telecom redlining".
That's a far cry from the days when he was expected to have Cingular vying to lead the telecom industry.
Stephenson told a federal court in Washington that before settling on acquiring Time Warner, he wrestled with AT&T's strategy to make a series of smaller acquisitions — creating a "string of pearls" — that could slowly lead the telecom giant into its next phase.
"There is still not enough competition, which has led to telecoms fees being relatively high while there is still a lot of room to improve the quality of service," the statement said, citing an official at China's official State Information Centre.
Leading Indian telecom firms have controlling stakes in various parts of Africa.
European shares also edged higher, led by telecom stocks in the wake of a series of deals over the weekend.
Other companies are also preparing WiMax plays, potentially including satellite companies EchoStar and DirecTV, as well as Clearwire, led by telecom veteran Craig McCaw.
The trouble is that the regulators' main aim was not to raise money, but to entrench Europe's lead in mobile telecoms.
Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator, took control of J-Phone, Japan's third-largest operator, in 2001 with two aims: to exploit Japan's lead in mobile telecoms to boost Vodafone's fortunes elsewhere, and to use Vodafone's global scale to win a larger share of the Japanese market.
