ixc Communications Inc., Austin, TX, has entered into an agreement to acquire Network Long Distance Inc. (nld), Newport News, VA, in exchange for four million shares of ixc stock. nld operates three switching centers: in Washington, DC; Winona, MN; and Baton Rouge, LA. ixc has almost completed the New York-to-Los Angeles portion of its fiber-optic network. According to ixc president and chief executive Ben Scott, the acquisition of nld and entry into the retail marketplace are steps

toward achieving the long-term goal of using the new capacity to make higher traffic volumes and bandwidth-intensive services available to the public. After the closing of the transaction, nld will change its name to Eclipse Communications Inc.