For Immediate Release
Washington, D.C.
August 21, 1997

                         Press Statement of

                    Commissioner Rachelle B. Chong

                       Regarding BT/MCI Merger


     The last successful British invasion was the arrival of the Beatles onto America soil in
1963.  Today's British invasion into the telecommunications market 34 years later may not cause
teenage girls to become hysterical but should make Wall Street analysts go "Yeah yeah yeah."

     Ever since BT said to MCI "I wanna hold your hand," the two have been planning ways
to make beautiful music together with Concert, an integrated global telecommunications
company.  Mergers like BT/MCI represent a new era of integrated service provision, and I am
pleased to support our decision today approving the merger subject to conditions.

     To my mind, the key benefit of this merger is its potential to enhance competition in the
domestic local telephone market.  Already a strong player in the long distance market, MCI has
well developed business plans to provide local telephone service to domestic consumers.  This
merger with BT will assist MCI in realizing such plans by bringing MCI financial resources and
BT's expertise in serving local markets.

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