The Telecom HOLDRS Trust issues depositary receipts called Telecom HOLDRS, representing an undivided beneficial ownership in the common stock of a group of specified companies that are involved in various segments of the telecommunications industry. The Telecom HOLDRS Trust was formed under the depositary trust agreement, dated as of January 24, 2000, among The Bank of New York, as trustee, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, other depositors and the owners of the Telecom HOLDRS. The 13 issuers of the underlying securities represented by a Telecom HOLDRS, as of August 1, 2005, were Alltel Corporation, BCE Inc., BellSouth Corporation, Cincinnati Bell Inc New, Centurytel Inc, Sprint Corporation, Level 3 Communications Inc, Nextel Communications Inc, Qwest Communications Intl Inc, SBC Communications Inc., AT&T Corp., Telephone And Data Systems, Inc. and Verizon Communications.