Four power mergers of 2006

By Denise Dubie, Network World
December 22, 2006 12:02 AM ET

. What's this?

1.) Players: AT&T, BellSouth

Size of the deal: $67 billion

Status: Completed Dec. 29, 2006

What's at stake: AT&T wants BellSouth's access lines in nine Southern states, its customers and network assets -- and 100% control of Cingular Wireless, a joint venture 60% owned by AT&T and 40% owned by BellSouth.

What it means in 2007: The deal could bring AT&T back to its monopolistic glory days of the 1980s.

2.) Players: EMC, RSA Security

Size of the deal: $2.1 billion

Status: Completed Sept. 18, 2006

What's at stake: Advanced information life-cycle management; EMC will be able to secure stored data with RSA technology.

What it means in 2007: EMC could be in a better position to promote storage security, such as competitor Symantec with its Veritas acquisition.

3.) Players: HP, Mercury Interactive

Size of the deal: $4.5 billion

Status: Completed Nov. 7, 2006

What's at stake: HP gets Mercury IT governance software and potentially doubles its annual $1 billion in software revenue.

What it means in 2007: HP becomes sixth-largest software vendor worldwide, and redefines its software business to address issues beyond OpenView network management to deliver business technology optimization.

4.) Players: IBM, Internet Security Systems (ISS)

Size of the deal: $1.3 billion

Status: Completed Oct. 20, 2006

What's at stake: Big Blue ups its stake in the security market and gains intrusion-detection/prevention appliances from ISS.

What it means in 2007: IBM could become a provider of large-scale managed services as ISS is expected to become an independent business unit within IBM's Infrastructure Management Services.

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