The researchers at Microelectronics, a consortium owned by a group of electronics companies, contend that the devices make it possible to build much faster computers.

Bell Communications Research, or Bellcore, a consortium owned by the seven Bell telephone companies, is supervising the investigation.

That would have cut costs and bolstered profits of the four separate companies, and reflected the structure of Scandinavian Airlines System, which is a consortium owned by Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

It is owned by Telelatino Network Inc, a consortium primarily owned by Corus Entertainment.

Primestar, based in Bala-Cynwyd, Pa., is a consortium owned by Tele-Communications Inc., Time Warner, the Comcast Corporation and Continental Cablevision.

As of 2008 the main Luishi orebody was controlled by a consortium owned by Chinese and local investors.

Under current Federal rules, only satellites operated by Intelsat, a consortium owned by more than 100 governments, can relay international communications to and from the United States' public telephone network.

Comsat's main business is providing links to satellites owned by Intelsat, the global consortium owned by 136 governments around the world.

And Primestar Partners, a consortium owned by several of the country's biggest cable television companies, is marketing a similar service that customers receive on bulkier three-foot-wide satellite dishes.

The company's biggest partnership thus far is with Unisource, a consortium owned by the telephone companies of the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.