Bell Atlantic, Vodafone In Venture Talks - Sources
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vodafone AirTouch Plc and Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE:BEL - news) are in talks to forge a wireless telephone joint venture in the United States that would give both companies the national reach they currently lack, sources familiar with the situation said Thursday.
Britain's Vodafone and New York-based Bell Atlantic have held preliminary talks, but ``there's no guarantee that just because they're talking, anything is going to happen,' one source said.
A Bell Atlantic spokesman declined comment. Vodafone said it was too soon after its merger with AirTouch to speculate about any change in its U.S. strategy.
A deal with Bell Atlantic would give Vodafone access to over 20 million U.S. customers, a network of licenses across the U.S. -- including sought-after New York -- and enough market clout to fight heavyweight rivals Sprint Corp. (NYSE:FON - news) and AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) .
With a partnership, Vodafone would not have to spend billions of dollars to buy or build U.S. networks, analysts said.
Vodafone in January beat Bell Atlantic in a bidding war for San Francisco-based AirTouch, the cell phone company. Vodafone completed the $62 billion AirTouch deal less than two months ago, giving it a foothold in the western U.S. But the combined company was left without a complete national wireless network.
Vodafone previously said it was interested in gaining a national U.S. presence, either through partnerships or acquisitions. Bell Atlantic, which primarily serves the eastern U.S., would be the most logical partner, analysts said.
After clashing in the AirTouch bidding war and subsequent legal wranglings, relations between Vodafone and Bell Atlantic were tense for most of this year. The tension has since eased, and talks for a potential joint venture have begun, sources said.
Earlier this month, Vodafone and Bell Atlantic agreed to split the assets of the PrimeCo Personal Communications joint venture that had been owned by Bell Atlantic and AirTouch. |
