WorldCom Followers Hear Bells in Capellas Talk

"The list of candidates wasn't all that long, and not once did I ever hear the name Capellas," says Hyman. "Capellas is a great guy and a household name, but it just may be that the other candidates before him said no."

Capellas didn't return a call seeking comment.

Even if Capellas does get the WorldCom post, that doesn't mean the local phone giants won't play a big role in WorldCom's restructuring efforts. According to common matchmaking logic, WorldCom's extensive business customer list is a prize target for the Baby Bells, which are looking to offset declines in their local business. Going by this view, it's Capellas's experience as a dealmaker, rather than his lack of experience in the telecom industry, that defines his candidacy.

With the rules on separation of local and long-distance services about to end, analysts have long predicted that the ultimate successors to the current round of phone business giants will be about three or four consolidated service providers. Critics have blamed the industry's collapse on an overabundance of phone companies that rang up crippling debts and unleashed damaging price wars.

Indeed, WorldCom itself was at the epicenter of the strategic shifts that remade the telecom industry from a slow-growing profit center to a worldwide loss leader.

The company launched a search for a new chief after current CEO John Sidgmore bowed to pressure from the company's creditors, many of whom are looking to clear the deck of WorldCom hands. Sidgmore, a former vice chairman, replaced founder Bernie Ebbers last summer. Since then the company has revealed more than $9 billion worth of accounting misdeeds. WorldCom is currently working with its creditors' committee and the bankruptcy court trustee toward a restructuring.

For their part, the Bells have consistently tried to lower expectations about any merger spree just around the corner. Verizon (VZ Quote) chief Ivan Seidenberg told investors at a UBS Warburg conference Monday that his company is more inclined to rent the network pathways it needs rather than acquire them through a merger.