Cabot joins Arnold, holds the phone account. (Cabot Communications; Arnold Fortuna Lane Inc., New England Telephone and Telegraph Co.)

The recently announced acquisition of Cabot Communications by Arnold Fortuna Lane ended months of speculation within the Boston advertising industry over what was to become of Cabot--and of Cabot's flagship account, New England Telephone.

For years, rival agencies have lusted after the phone company account, with its billings estimated as high as $35 million per year. Cabot's inability to assemble a management team over the past two years raised hopes for some that the NET-Cabot relationship of four decades--something unheard of in the advertising industry--would come apart, letting them get a shot at the lucrative account.

"There was a smell of blood in the water," said management consultant Walter "Skip" Pile.

But NET rebuffed all suitors, giving the …