s BT insisted it must be, AT&T actually had to exclude some of its international assets. BT, on the other hand, was pushing to put a very high value on some of its European distribution networks that, while potentially valuable, didn't yet have many customers. Zeglis and Peter Bonfield, BT's president, had great personal chemistry, but their lieutenants were still a little suspicious of each other. Just weeks earlier, after all, they had been bitter enemies. AT&T had a subsidiary in the United Kingdom that was competing with BT on its home turf, and BT's managers were still smarting from being Tough Calls left at the altar by MCI. As a result, Zeglis found himself much more deeply involved in the details of the negotiations than normal. It suited his analytic mind, but it was grueling work. So Zeglis was a little surprised to learn that Somers had managed to wring a deal from the Malone-Hindery combo in less than two weeks. He had more than an academic interest in the terms of the TCI deal. Armstrong had proposed that Zeglis assume the post of chairman and CEO of AT&T Consumer Services, which would include TCI. "You'll run your own show," he said, "just like I did at Hughes." Having witnessed the relish with which Armstrong dove into business- unit operational reviews, Zeglis must have taken that with a grain of salt, but he also knew that once he had his own shareowners, he could use his fiduciary responsibility to them to build some distance be- tween himself and Armstrong. No one could argue with the logic of the deal-using cable to rees- tablish a direct connection with its customers was something that the company had been exploring for several years. Its engineers were con- vinced that it could be done technically. The biggest question was at what cost and how quickly. If Somers' team had crossed that bridge, the only thing standing in the company's way was the company itself. Zeglis had seen firsthand how intramural battles over transfer charges, account control, and cost allocations could become an endless