EU to Block WorldCom-Sprint Deal

European Union antitrust authorities are set to block the merger of WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. after concluding that the $129-billion deal would place too much of the Internet within the network of a single company, officials said. The decision--which the officials said is likely to be formally adopted at the European Commission’s July 5 meeting--would appear to deal a death blow to an enormous merger that has encountered deep skepticism from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic. EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti has determined that the commission should block the deal outright and reject as insufficient the companies’ proposal to sell Sprint’s Internet business to alleviate regulators’ concerns, officials said.