This story in the NY Times [free reg] looks at the breathtaking stupidity of those running the telecommunications business over the last 10 years. While the subject is WorldCom, the one thing we can be sure of is that its so-called competitors will have been paying similar dollars for similar assets. this is what it looks like

we now know in actual, quantifiable, stupefying terms, just how much WorldCom overpaid for the telecommunications network it built.

After reviewing its books, WorldCom said that it would write down the value of its assets by $80 billion. Some of this had been expected; $45 billion in good will at the company — largely a result of overpaying for acquisitions — surely had little value.

But more than a few jaws dropped when WorldCom noted that it would write down the value of its property, plant and equipment and other intangible assets to $10 billion from $44.8 billion. That meant that WorldCom's hard assets, including its network, are now worth almost 75 percent less than what they had cost. And don't forget, these assets were bought with actual cash, not high flying shares.