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To: Anthony Wong who wrote (2683)	6/19/1998 6:21:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 11568

INTERVIEW-Cable & Wireless talking with MCI Friday June 19, 5:38 pm Eastern Time By Kevin Drawbaugh CHICAGO, June 19 (Reuters) - Cable & Wireless Plc., the second-largest U.K. telecommunications group, continues to talk with MCI Communications Corp. (MCIC - news) about possibly buying its Internet backbone business as part of MCI's proposed merger with WorldCom Inc. (WCOM - news), said Cable & Wireless Chief Executive Officer Richard Brown on Friday. In an interview with Reuters, Brown said, ''It's a property that we have wanted to acquire, that we do want to acquire. It's an important element of our future, but it's not a make-or-break element of our business.'' A key panel advised the European Union's antitrust watchdog Friday to bless the $37-billion marriage of WorldCom and MCI, with the companies agreeing to divest all of MCI's wholesale and retail Internet businesses, sources said. MCI last month agreed to sell its wholesale Internet business to Cable & Wireless for $625 million, but regulators later said that divestiture was inadequate. ''Our companies are talking all the time. There's a good dialogue between our two companies, MCI and Cable and Wireless,'' Brown said. ''But when we struck this agreement -- us to buy the Internet backbone business as it was originallytalked about -- we knew that ... the deal could change.'' If the transaction falls through, Brown said, ''We'll go on and do something else. But we are very interested in buying it and our teams are talking in that context now.'' MCI would have to pay Cable & Wireless a termination fee of $25 million to break up their existing agreement. ''What we both have in mind is candid, earnest talk about how this could work out. That's what we're both focused on, not a breakup fee,'' Brown said. In another area, Brown said that Cable & Wireless may soon have a formal plan for its activities with Telecom Italia SpA (TIT.MI), its strategic alliance partner since April. ''We're working on a plan,'' Brown said, acknowledging expectations that it might be completed by September. ''That's what some have said ... I would be disappointed if we had to wait that long,'' he said. Brown said Cable & Wireless has no plans to cut further its majority stake in Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd. (0008.HK), in which it sold a 5.4-percent stake last year to China. ''We have no plans to sell any further level of interest in Hong Kong Telecom. That's not to say we never will, but there are no discussions under way about that,'' he said. On Asia's recent economic turmoil, Brown said, ''We believe in these markets ... There's no question in my mind but that Hong Kong will be back and we're in it for the long pull.'' Finally, Brown said Cable & Wireless could raise its 53-percent stake in Cable & Wireless Communications Plc. (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: CWZ.L), or CWC, Britain's largest cable company. ''It's possible,'' he said. ''In the immediate short-term, there's no reason for us to do it. We've got more than 50 percent and we'll probably stay there, but it's a great company and we have a strong belief in its future. If it made sense to buy more, we would, but there are no plans to do so now.'' biz.yahoo.com

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (2683)	6/19/1998 6:44:00 PM
From: dougjn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11568

No, IMHO at least the cellular of choice will be Sprint PCS once Sprint spins it off. That is, if it spins off control. Aside from the preferable CDMA digital technology (allows much higher capacity for the same amount of infrastructure), Sprint PCS is becoming the only single cellular system with nationwide coverage. I.e., once its build out, in another year or two, you will need to roam on other systems only outside the 150 or so largest cities. Doug