means Telcom, a Minneapolis, MN-based telecommunications corporation, and Minnesota Regional Network (mrnet) have signed a purchase agreement that will complete the merger of the companies` Internet service operations. The merger will result in a wholly owned subsidiary of means, which was expected to be newly incorporated as mrnet last month. The initial plan for the new corporation includes expanding the Internet service infrastructure in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Using means`s advanced switching systems and sonet-based regional fiber backbone, the Internet infrastructure is expected to grow to include several national backbone connections with advanced ATM switching.