WorldCom and MCI Communications have said they're confident they won't have to sell WorldCom's UUNet Technologies Internet unit to get regulatory approval for their $41.8 merger, which European Union regulators have said could dominate global Internet traffic.

The EU isn't demanding that the companies sell UUNet to get approval, said Mr Stefan Rating, spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert. Instead, both sides are looking at other potential solutions such as selling other MCI-WorldCom Internet assets, analysts said.

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