There was a gratifying reaction to my calling out Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg the other day.

But here's a question no one asks, and getting in tune with Seidenberg's arrogance actually keeps us from asking this.

What's he buying in MCI? For $6.7 billion it's not much.

Then again, maybe it's everything.

Most MCI revenues come from long distance services, but that whole industry is circling the bowl. VOIP and cellular mean you don't need a long distance carrier. I've been getting called by MCI a lot, and I still have a plan with them, but it's vestigial to what I do. I don't use it.

Now EE Times noted yesterday that MCI is getting heavily into media delivery. That's very important to know. Because what Verizon is really buying with MCI is a huge hunk of the IP backbone. It's the old UUNet, the old MFS, and the old a lot of other things that Bernie Ebbers rolled-up to make his little empire in the late 1990s. CyberTelecom estimated last year they still have 30% of Internet backbone traffic, a share that dwarfs competitors.

Given the arrogance displayed by Mr. Seidenberg the other day, is it OK with you that he's now going to control so much of the Internet backbone? Isn't it likely he will seek to use that control to squeeze-out revenue from American users of the Internet, charging more for basic services rather than investing in new capacity?

I think it's a certainty. It's the only way to justify the purchase.

And that's the story that isn't being told. You and I are the only ones who know.