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To: P.M.Freedman who wrote (5394)	11/21/1999 2:45:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 11568

TELECOMS - MCI goes solo in bid forlicence YVONNE CHAN South China Morning Post Saturday, November 20, 1999 MCI WorldCom aims to build a fixed network in Hong Kong, but it will not follow the lead of Hutchison Telecom and form a joint venture with an existing licence holder, according to a company executive. "We would like to build a fixed network in Hong Kong and we'd like to carry the traffic in Hong Kong to our global network," said Liam Strong, chief executive of international operations. However, he said MCI WorldCom was not interested in using a similar business structure to Hutchison Telecom for any of its deals. Hutchison Telecom this week formed a US$1.2 billion venture with Bermuda-based Global Crossing. "Clearly we would like to have infrastructure in Hong Kong. [But] our business model is not joint ventures . . . we are not a believer in joint ventures." MCI WorldCom is said to be interested in buying a fixed line telecommunications network services (FTNS) licensee, but Mr Strong declined to confirm whether the company was in talks to do so. New World Telephone said it was in discussions with a number of potential strategic investors for its FTNS business. One analyst claimed MCI WorldCom had approached New World, but the asking price was too high. The Government has imposed a moratorium on the issue of new FTNS licences until the end of 2002. Meanwhile MCI WorldCom will attempt to link up the SAR's commercial buildings to its global communications network by partnering with Hong Kong's property developers, it said. scmp.com