Verizon may have landed the killer blow in the battle for MCI (formerly WorldCom).

The bid by Verizon now stands at $7.6bn compared to $6.7bn previously. This is still less than Qwest's $8.45bn. However the nearly extra $1bn is cash. The sweetener goes well with Verizon's highly rated paper which makes up the rest of the bid.

MCI’s Board has been closely and carefully evaluating all of the recent developments,...We believe Verizon’s substantial increase in its offer, the strength of its competitive position and the financial certainty at close make this offer compelling to our shareholders, customers and employees, was the response from Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, MCI's Chairman.

The move comes on the same day that Qwest has put a 5th April deadline on their offer. As the MCI board had already recommended the lower Verizon bid, they are not likely to change their mind with an extra billion on the table.

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