  We show that models with an abelian family symmetry which accounts for the
observed hierarchies of masses and mixings in the quark sector may also
accomodate quasi-degeneracies in the neutrino mass spectrum. Such approximate
degeneracies are, in this context, associated with large mixing angles. The
parameters of this class of models are constrained. We discuss their
phenomenological implications for present and foreseen neutrino experiments.
