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To: E'Lane who wrote (40)	4/19/1999 8:59:00 PM
From: Rob W	Respond to of 44

Telecom Egypt Joins OXYGEN Network HAMILTON, Bermuda (AROL) -- The Egyptian Telecommunications Company (Telecom Egypt) has agreed to purchase capacity in Project OXYGEN(tm), the planned global optical fiber undersea cable Network, said a press release. The carrier will also provide access to the OXYGEN Network through landing points in Port Said, Suez, and Alexandria. "Telecom Egypt decided to join Project OXYGEN because of its unique design as a Network," said Egyptian Minister of Communication Eng Soliman Metwally, Chairman of the carrier's General Assembly. "Our central position as a gateway to Africa, Asia and Europe makes this a perfect fit for all parties concerned." Telecom Egypt's Chairman, Abd Elfattah Abou Sarie, signed the Capacity Agreement at the company's head office in Cairo, along with Ambassador Bradley Holmes, President of Project Oxygen Network Ltd. As a Project OXYGEN Landing Party, Telecom Egypt will be responsible for routing traffic between the domestic network and the global OXYGEN Network. "Telecom Egypt's participation will bring enormous benefits to Project OXYGEN," said Mahmoud El Soury, Vice President of Middle East Business Development for the project. "It is a crucial partner for any cable system passing through the Middle East." Telecom Egypt, Egypt's national telecommunications carrier, was formerly known as the Arab Republic of Egypt National Telecommunication Organization (ARENTO). Founded in 1870, its name changed in 1998 when it was converted from a government-operated carrier to an independently managed government-owned company. It operates more than 5 million subscriber lines, most of them digital, with a modernized backbone and five satellite earth stations. Project OXYGEN Network is a planned global undersea optical fiber cable network with a first phase comprising approximately 168,000 kilometers of optical fiber cable, 99 landing points in 78 countries and locations, and a minimum capacity of 1,280 Gbit/s on every segment. Cable installation is scheduled to begin in 1999, with the major trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific links operational in 2000 and 2001, respectively. The first phase will be complete in early 2003.

To: E'Lane who wrote (40)	4/20/1999 8:49:00 PM
From: Rob W	Respond to of 44

Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia Reached Merger Accord April 20, 1999 Xinhua via NewsEdge Corporation : BONN (April 19) XINHUA - One of the world's largest telecommunications groups valued at some 200 billion U.S. dollars will be created after the German giant Deutsche Telekom merges with Telecom Italia as they have agreed. The two companies will announce details of the agreement at a press conference in London Tuesday, the DPA news agency reported Monday. Deutsche Telekom neither confirmed nor denied the information. The development follows days of intense speculation and reports about their imminent merger to create a concern with a yearly turnover of around 64 billion dollars and a work force of about 350,000 employees. Deutsche Telekom just a week ago dismissed a Financial Times report about the merger as "speculation," saying it would not participate in such speculation. At the same time, however, the German company while reporting its first-quarter results also announced plans for a second emission of shares which could generate as much as 12 billion dollars in revenues. The company said the share issue, to be effected by the summer, would be used to bolster its finances and to help in making acquisitions, a point which only further fueled the speculation about its aims towards Telecom Italia. Over the weekend, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel and his Italian counterpart, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, respectively gave their blessing to the merger at an informal European Union finance ministers meeting, and said they would not stand against it. The two companies Sunday formally confirmed their talks, which had been believed to involve the two sides' top executives, Ron Sommer of Deutsche Telekom and Franco Bernabe of Telecom Italia. The German business daily Handelsblatt reported earlier Monday that the two companies were intending a merger after the model of the mega-fusion last year between Daimler and Chrysler, whereby the shares of both would be exchanged in lieu of a single new share. Amid the developments, France Telecom, one of Deutsche Telekom's most important international partners, warned Monday against the merger with Telecom Italia, saying it viewed such a merger as incompatible with Deutsche Telekom's efforts towards a "strategic turnaround." The French and German companies are involved together with the U.S. telephone company Sprint in a joint venture called Global One, which has reportedly run into problems with larger-than-anticipated losses. [Copyright 1999, Comtex]