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Technology Stocks : Vodafone-Airtouch (NYSE: VOD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ibexx who wrote (645)	1/13/1998 3:09:00 PM
From: Roy F	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3175

Good News.... <<Brazil rejects BCE Sao Paulo state cellphone bid January 13, 1998 02:48 PM SAO PAULO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Communications Ministry said Tuesday a Canadian-led group bid 1.206 billion reais ($1.07 billion) for a disputed cellular phone concession in Brazil but the offer was not high enough to win the license. A ministry spokesman said the offer by the Telet consortium, led by BCE Inc's CA:BCE Bell Canada and Telesystem International Wireless Inc CA:TIW , was below those of two other groups bidding on B Band area No. 2, covering non-metropolitan Sao Paulo state. The government has said Avantel Comunicacoes Pessoais, which includes U.S.-based AirTouch Communications Inc ATI , won the area 2 license with an offer of 1.224 billion reais. But the disqualified Tess group, which includes Sweden's Telia and last year bid 1.326 billion reais for the concession, has appealed the decision to a Brazilian high court. Both Telet and Tess had been disqualified from the bidding last year but appealed to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) in August. The STJ ruled in their favor. The ministry accepted the decision on Telet but insisted that Tess' proposal had "a lot of flaws." The consortium appealed and a high court in late November granted an injunction barring the government from awarding the license to Avantel until a final decision was made on Tess' appeal. The government has opened bids on five of 10 B Band concessions and plans to award the remaining licenses this year. Brazil also plans to break up and sell off the federal Telebras TBR system, including nine cellular A Band firms which are to compete with the new B Band operators. ((Luciana Coelho, Sao Paulo newsroom 5511 2485439, fax: 5511 2495570)) REUTERS >>