Peppe ---
Another voice indicating overseas partnerships/mergers/alliances are critical to be a global player:
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April 22, 1999
Dow Jones Newswires
Ameritech Exec Sees US, Overseas Telecom Giants Teaming Up
By STEPHANIE N. MEHTA
Dow Jones Newswires
NEW YORK -- American telephone behemoths seeking to serve large, multinational customers will need to team up with new giants such as the proposed Deutsche Telekom-Telecom Italia, said Ameritech Corp.'s (AIT) top strategy executive.
W. Patrick Campbell, executive vice president of corporate strategy and business development for the Chicago-based Baby Bell, said big U.S. phone companies eventually will have to form alliances with their European counterparts - much like AT&T Corp.'s (T) joint venture with British Telecommunications PLC. (BT).
"Consolidation has been regional," Campbell said in an interview. "It is logical that after the consolidation in North America that there will be cooperation" with overseas carriers, he said. That cooperation could come in the form of alliances, joint ventures or even mergers.
The European market is one Ameritech knows well. The company has invested more than $7 billion overseas, mostly in Europe. It is a major shareholder in telecommunications companies in Denmark, Belgium and Hungary, for example.
Those investments, Campbell said, form a "crescent" around the attractive German, Italian, French and Spanish markets. The crescent could serve as a platform from which to invade those markets.
Ameritech has agreed to be acquired by SBC Communications Inc. (SBC). SBC, based in San Antonio, has investments in Latin America and Asian. That could give the combined company a more global presence.
Still, analysts believe the combined company would need to make further investments or form additional alliances around the world in order to directly deliver "one-stop" telecommunications services to companies with offices and operations worldwide.
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