By Johna Till Johnson, Network World, 12/05/05

It's official - the Verizon/MCI and SBC/AT&T mergers have gotten final approvals from federal and state authorities. The next step, the joke goes, is for AT&T and Verizon to buy each other, thus reconstituting the original Ma Bell.

Not likely. The next new frontier, as many folks have noticed, has to do with redefining the relationship between content and carriers. Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet for news, shopping and entertainment, as well as communications services. According to a recent study by