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Disney Phone Service Sold for Estimated $350 Mil

ORLANDO-Vista-United Telecommunications, a 29-year-old Lake Buena Vista, FL company, has been sold by Walt Disney World Co. and Sprint Corp. to Las Vegas-based Smart City Networks. But the deal still needs a green light from state and federal regulators.

By Alex Finkelstein | Updated on September 12, 2000

ORLANDO-Vista-United Telecommunications, a telephone company that has serviced Walt Disney World visitors since 1971, is being sold by Walt Disney World Co. and Sprint Corp. to Smart City Networks of Las Vegas.

Salomon Smith Barney estimated earlier this year the Disney-Spring joint venture could gross $350 million, along with some Orlando real estate properties and mortgages from Disney Vacation Club. The deal still needs to clear the Florida Public Service Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. The agencies are expected to announce their ruling by year end.

Disney owns 51% of Vista-United; Sprint controls 49%. Disney formed the telephone company in 1971, a year after it opened its 30,000-acre entertainment empire at Lake Buena Vista, FL.

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