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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: slacker711 who wrote (6603)	1/26/2001 4:39:14 PM
From: Cooters	Respond to of 196536

Bell Canada International May Delay Deadline to Sell Vesper SA --From AOL. More jockeying for position in LA.-- Cooters Montreal, Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Bell Canada International Inc. said it may give VeloCom Inc. more time to complete its purchase of Bell Canada's 34 percent stake in Brazilian telephone company Vesper SA. VeloCom asked last Friday that the Feb. 15 deadline be pushed back 60 days, Bell Canada spokesman Peter Burn said. Bell Canada is trying to determine whether VeloCom can close the sale if it receives an extension, or if it would be better to seek another buyer, he said. Bell Canada, a unit of Montreal-based BCE Inc., must sell its Vesper stake in order to become part of a new $4 billion, Latin American wireless joint venture with Telefonos de Mexico SA and SBC Communications Inc., called Telecom Americas Ltd. Once it sells Vesper and a stake in Axtel SA, a Mexican local phone company, Bell Canada will be absorbed by Telecom Americas. BCE will own 33 percent of the new company. VeloCom hasn't been able to attract a partner to share the cost of the acquisition, Burn said. ``A delay in the sale of the Vesper would change our ability to trigger our consolidation into Telecom Americas,'' Burn said. ``We want to do that as soon as possible, so for BCI that (delay is) an important consideration.'' VeloCom officials weren't immediately available to comment. Englewood, Colorado-based VeloCom already owns 49 percent of Sao Paulo-based Vesper, which provides local phone service to 550,000 subscribers in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and 15 other Brazilian states. VeloCom called off a planned $300 million initial public offering in November because of declining U.S. equity prices. Telecom Americas is well funded, Burn said. The potential delay will have no effect on its ability to participate in the Brazilian auction of wireless licenses, expected to begin in February, he said. Bell Canada shares fell 60 Canadian cents (40 cents) to C$29.60 in Toronto trading. The shares have fallen 8.5 percent in the past year. Jan/26/2001 16:19 ET