Level 3 has offered $1.1B for Williams Communications Group, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Here Comes Warren Buffett. (Look for a push to consolidate as a means of accelerating the inevitable collapse while localizing the damage as much as possible.) If we combine six debt-ridden companies into one, the mountain of debt will be so high as to be make bankruptcy unavoidable. And consolidating the carriers will eliminate competitive network build-outs, reducing the need to buy new telecom equipment. Excess equipment on hand is sold at cut-rate prices to pay off the bondholders. These factors lead to the collapse of suppliers. That's the idea, anyway.

It isn't going to get better until it gets as bad as it can possibly get. The sooner the telecom world collapses, the sooner it can be rebuilt. ("Can" is the operative word; it's not clear that anyone will be interested in doing so.)

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.