It will increase [cable modem] usage and speed up new technology development. You'll have AT&T involved in cable modem development and getting involved in standards bodies.

What [this deal] does is solidify Lucent, Cisco and Nortel-Bay Networks as the leaders for the upper echelon in networking.

When some kind of major hiccup occurs in the U.S. market, these companies will be the first to take a hit. These companies are 1 percent of the electronic commerce industry right now. They're a small piece of the pie they're all trying to get a slice of.

When AOL announces a rate hike, it's leveraging its customer base. They have the multiple e-mail accounts and user lists, which makes it difficult for people to switch services.

They already have a tremendous brand name out there. They're not going to lose any customers.

All these companies are signing new deals. They're all doing the right things. If you said two years ago that these companies would be large market caps, people would laugh at you.