SBC’s Whitacre: IXC purchase isn’t in plans

SBC Communications Chairman Ed Whitacre told attendees of the Credit Suisse First Boston investor conference in Orlando that his company has no interest in acquiring a long-distance carrier, according to Reuters.

Whitacre’s comments echoed those of Verizon Communications Co-CEO Ivan Seidenberg who spoke at the conference on Monday. Seidenberg also said Verizon has no interest in the “horizontal acquisition” of another Bell company.

Analysts previously have considered industry consolidation inevitable, most likely in the form of mergers between interexchange carriers such as AT&T and WorldCom and the Bells.

Both Whitacre and Seidenberg cited the soft economy and regulatory hurdles as the primary reasons for avoiding such transactions at this time. Nevertheless, both indicated they would be open to the acquisition of smaller regional carriers. According to Reuters, Whitacre said SBC is negotiating with one such carrier, which he declined to name but described as a rural competitive carrier currently under bankruptcy protection. Whitacre reportedly added the carrier is not Covad Communications.

--Glenn Bischoff, senior news writer