merge with local telephone company US West Inc., may acquire telecommunications service providers overseas.

When asked during a presentation at the PaineWebber Growth and Technology Conference whether the company saw the potential for international acquisitions, Global Crossing's Chief Financial Officer Dan Cohrs said: "I wouldn't be totally surprised.

"It's certainly possible in a lot of countries to acquire service providers because a lot of countries are deregulated to a point where you have competitive service providers springing up. So there are competitive companies attacking the incumbents that we could potentially acquire in a number of countries.'' Cohrs added that it would not be too long before it would be theoretically possible for the overseas incumbent or monopoly carriers to be targeted for acquisitions.