 Nextel announced a $35 billion merger agreement. And in early 2005, SBC announced it would acquire AT&T for $16 billion. Meanwhile, Verizon and Qwest were engaged in a bidding war for MCI that had not been resolved as of this book's publication. An end-run around the phone Cell phones aren't the only way consumers are making calls these days - Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), offered by companies like Vonage, allows users to turn their personal computers into telephones by sending voice "data" over a broadband connection in the same way Visit Vault at www.vault.com for insider company profiles, expert advice, VAULT CAREER career message boards, expert resume reviews, the Vault Job Board and more. LIBRARY Vault Guide to the Top Telecom Employers Introduction other data is sent online. Bypassing questions of local and long distance networks entirely, VoIP services allow complete number portability - users in Iowa can maintain Manhattan area codes. The technology also has an advantage in terms of cost - thanks to the FCC, VoIP is exempt from taxes and regulations regular phone carriers are saddled with. Of course, the major telecoms are busy on Capitol Hill, trying to level the playing field - meanwhile, most experts say the technology has a way to go in terms of reliability and simplicity for the average consumer. But it isn't a simple question of phone companies competing with the Internet - indeed, telecom providers, seeing the Internet revolution early on, began expanding their data communication networks, constructing more than 90 million miles of fiber-optic cables alone. Cable lines, which are hooked up to 90 percent of American residences, have considerably greater bandwidth than current phone lines and appear to be the least painful replacement for the outdated phone lines connecting homes today. With AT&T currently gobbling up miles of cable wire, there's little mystery as to what its medium in the next few years will be. A job market roller coaster The numbers are intimidating: By some estimates, the