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To: zbyslaw owczarczyk who wrote (10237)	3/11/1999 10:31:00 PM
From: pat mudge	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18016

It's quiet tonight. Here's the Financial Times take on the AOL-SBC announcement. <<< Americas March 12 1999 TELECOMS: AOL and SBC agree link-up By Richard Waters in New York The attempt to marry online content with the latest communications technology triggered another big corporate alliance yesterday as America Online and SBC Communications announced plans to sell high-speed information services to American homes. The agreement mirrors one reached two months ago between AOL and another large local telecommunications carrier, Bell Atlantic, and could eventually give the leading online content company faster access to a large number of homes in the US. But the fact that high-speed lines will only be available to relatively few of the potential users for some time to come is likely to act as a drag on such development. The partnerships are the latest sign of the scramble under way by telephone and cable television companies to create a new generation of interactive services that combine the internet's breadth of content with the latest high-speed communications technology. AT&T's plan to invest heavily in the cable networks of Tele-Communications Inc, which it acquired earlier this week, has set it on a collision course with local telecoms companies in the race to make such services a reality. By offering AOL's service, the local Baby Bell telephone companies should see far more demand for their high-speed telephone lines, said Blaik Kirby, a principal at Renaissance Worldwide, a consulting firm based in Boston. "They didn't have the content to drive the service before," he added. Using digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, which pumps higher volumes of information down existing copper telephone lines, the local carriers have so far only inched their way into providing high-speed access. Deals such as those with AOL, however, will create far more demand for the service, according to Peter Castleton, head of high-speed consumer products at Bell Atlantic. "We've all committed to large deployments of DSL - it will come into its own this year," he added. SBC said it expected to make broadband services available to 8.5m homes by the end of this year, or nearly half the total in its region, while Bell Atlantic predicted it would reach 7.5m, or around a third. AOL has yet to reach agreement on delivering its service over cable television lines, which could provide an even faster link to consumers. Along with other internet service providers, it has been lobbying hard to have the cable networks opened up to all online services on the same basis, rather than allowing them to give preferential access to their own high-speed information services. Eventually, SBC and Bell Atlantic could give AOL a high-speed platform to reach a large number of its existing 15m customers in the US. SBC and Bell Atlantic are still waiting for regulatory approval for their mergers with Ameritech and GTE, deals that would leave the two companies accounting for around two-thirds of all local telephone lines that reach the "last mile" into customers' homes. >>>>>>

To: zbyslaw owczarczyk who wrote (10237)	3/11/1999 11:00:00 PM
From: Peppe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18016

ZO, I'm sorry, I wanted to post the NT announcement as well, but I got side-tracked. I spoke with Bell Nexxia and Cisco people today and both confirmed a signed contract, with GSR routers already installed. oc-48 IP back-bone network, Catalyst ethernet switches, for TLS IP services. I thought NN also got a part of this network. Maybe press release will follow later. Do oyu know anything about it ? Cheers, Peppe

To: zbyslaw owczarczyk who wrote (10237)	3/12/1999 2:34:00 AM
From: pat mudge	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 18016

March 12, 1999 Tech Center British Telecom to Buy 20% of ImpSat In Its First Foray Into Latin America By GAUTAM NAIK Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL LONDON -- British Telecommunications PLC made its first foray into Latin America by agreeing to acquire 20% of ImpSat, a regional telecom carrier, for 90 million pounds ($146.4 million). ImpSat, a closely held company controlled by an Argentinian family, operates networks in key cities of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela. It has some $200 million in annual revenue, employs 1,000 people and provides service to 1,500 corporate customers via satellite and fiber-optic links. The investment in ImpSat is small for a giant like BT, which has extensive international operations and a large cash balance to finance acquisitions. But after staying out of Latin America for so long, the U.K. company is now eager to boost its presence in the region. "There's no doubt we see this as a springboard for other activities in the region," said Andy Green, BT's group director of strategy and development. "We're not in a rush, but we're active." While major European and U.S. telecom companies have jumped into Latin America in a big way, BT has been cautious. One reason is that BT prefers to invest in new competitors rather than former phone monopolies. Risks in local economies also have caused concern. The recent downturn in Brazil, for instance, has hurt investments made by carriers like Telefonica SA and Portugal Telecom SA. "We spent some time examining the South American region and concluded we weren't going to make shareholders money" with more sizable investments, Mr. Green said. "We wanted to attack the incumbents and take advantage" of the huge growth in data services in the region, he added. BT said ImpSat will become a distributor of its Concert services, which are offered to large corporate customers around the world. While BT will own 20% of ImpSat, the majority interest will remain in the hands of Nevasa Holdings, which is based in Buenos Aires. Private equity funds affiliated with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter will continue to hold a minority interest.