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MCI drama close to an end

MCI has until midnight tonight to decide whether or not to take Qwest's new bid.

Marguerite Reardon Former senior reporter
Marguerite Reardon started as a CNET News reporter in 2004, covering cellphone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate and the consolidation of the phone companies.
Marguerite Reardon

By midnight tonight, the "who will buy MCI saga" should be over. Qwest, which raised its offer again last week, said that it would give MCI until midnight on April 5th to make its final decision.

MCI, which is the second largest long distance carrier in the U.S., has already accepted Verizon's offer twice. On Monday, Verizon's CEO Ivan Seidenberg sent a letter to MCI's board of directors stating that his company would not get into a bidding war with Qwest. If the board decides to accept Qwest's new offer, Verizon will step aside.

Seidenberg also took the opportunity to reiterate his arguments about why the board should go with Verizon even though Qwest is willing to pay about $1 billion more for the company.

"We believe the headline numbers in the Qwest proposal mask a myriad of financial and operational risks," he wrote. "We also believe MCI's Board understands that a proper comparative analysis is less about succumbing to the math of the moment and more about common sense and good business judgment."

Stay tuned.