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Strategies & Market Trends : Telebras (TBH) & Brazil -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RockyBalboa who wrote (6387)	8/6/1998 5:52:00 PM
From: Alan Palange	Respond to of 22640

SAO PAULO, Aug 6 (Reuters) - AT&T Corp. on Thursday said the massive privatization auction of Telebras <TBR.N>, far from bringing an end to investment opportunities in Brazil's telephone system, set the stage for the U.S. company to make its move. "Brazil is an extremely important market for AT&T," said Wilson Otero, director superintendent of AT&T's Mercosur operations. "We didn't lose a chance.... We see a big number of opportunities for us out there." AT&T was conspicuously absent during the $19 billion sell-off of Telebras' 12 units on July 29, even as one of its main competitors, MCI Communications Corp. <MCIC.O> snapped up the long-distance carrier Embratel. "This is just the beginning of a period of big transition," Otero said. "We're going to study all of the possibilities." The U.S. telephone giant could still get in on one of the consortia that won bidding for units of Telebras or even for the parallel cellular licenses that were sold last year, Otero said. "There are going to be evolutions within the different companies," he said. "We don't rule out operating within the system." Before the Telebras privatization, AT&T submitted failed bids for the Band B concessions to offer cellular phone service that will compete with the former monopoly's cellular companies. AT&T is also eyeing concessions to set up a "mirror" company to compete against the Telebras units though it has not singled out any specific interests, Otero said. The government plans to sign contracts by December for four concessions that will compete directly with the new owners of the Telebras units. They will provide competing fixed-line services in three regions and competing long-distance services. Brazil's telecommunications watchdog agency will publish provision bidding rules on Aug. 13, and all interested parties must submit bids by Dec. 3. Providing there are no legal challenges, the mirror companies will begin operatingby the first half of 1999, the agency said. AT&T could also opt to wait until 2003 when Brazil's telephone system is expected to be completely opened to competition, Otero said. REUTERS Rtr 17:45 08-06-98