The companies said they hoped to cut costs and increase efficiency by eliminating redundant operations.

"One of the reasons for a merger or takeover is operational efficiencies, so why would they leave redundant operations in Connecticut?"

BankAmerica, which is based in San Francisco, has said it hopes to save $1.2 billion a year in operating costs by trimming redundant operations.

Eliminating redundant operations generates considerable cost savings, which would make the surviving company more competitive in California.

Shadow tables are often used with DBMs to improve efficiency by preventing redundant operations being performed by the DBM.

A merger of Verizon and MCI would involve fewer redundant operations, a fact that cuts two ways.

They also said they expected to save $12 billion over the next several years by combining operations and cutting redundant operations and employees.

"We're cutting out redundant operations and streamlining management," Mr. Cheney said.

Qwest might be able to save $2 billion to $3 billion initially by merging its operations with MCI and cutting redundant operations, executives close to the negotiations said.

The optimism stems both from technology innovations - high-performance drill bits, for example, and from continuing mergers that eliminate redundant operations and provide economies of scale.