Spain's Telefonica to Join WorldCom in Italian Expansion
Madrid, Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Telefonica SA, Spain's biggest telecommunications company, will move into the Italian telecommunications market with its international partners MCI WorldCom Inc. in early 1999, offering services to businesses, reported Gaceta de los Negocios, citing unidentified sources at Telefonica. The U.S. telecommunications company will control 60 percent of the venture and will use its Italian licenses for fixed-line service and managing phone networks to start the new company. Telefonica has aimed to expand in Italy since Telecom Italia SpA, Italy's biggest phone company, last year bought a stake in Retevision SA, which broke Telefonica's monopoly on fixed-line service in Spain.
Telefonica and WorldCom announced their intention to jointly expand in Italy when they announced their alliance in March. (Gaceta de los Negocios 11/9 p. 29, www.negocios.com) |
