U.S. telecommunications companies need to serve their customers globally or we will lose our edge in a rapidly expanding global market. Ameritech has already started this approach, but we need to grow to move to the next level and most effectively compete on a national and global scale. We have made important strategic investments in Europe, including Belgium, Denmark and Hungary. But economies of scale matter in the national and global telecommunications marketplace. Another of these partners is Unisource, which in turn is a consortium of European telephone companies.
International competition benefits residential customers as well.
For example, the Internet is truly international in scope and knows no boundaries. One of our residential customers located in Chicago, for example, expects to be able to access a Web page located on a server in San Francisco, then one in Paris, then one in Hong Kong, then one in Sydney, all with a simple point and click, and at higher and higher speeds. This remarkable feat requires extensive international facilities and coordination. Just as important, the history of our industry is one in which exciting innovations are introduced first in the business market and then, if successful, migrate to the residential market. The merger will better enable our combined companies to be at the leading edge in bringing new products and services to the marketplace.