In Business This Week

TWO CABLE GIANTS BUY INTO FIBER OPTICS

While telephone companies are agitating to get in the cable-television business, two giant cable companies on Feb. 19 announced they were buying Teleport Communications Group from Merrill Lynch. Teleport owns fiber-optic networks that compete with local phone companies. Tele-Communications agreed to buy a 49.9% stake, and Cox Enterprises said it was considering boosting its stake to 50.1% from 12.5%.EDITED BY HARRIS COLLINGWOOD