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To: limtex who wrote (28138)	4/22/1999 8:46:00 PM
From: 2brasil	Respond to of 152472

Brazil to sell Sao Paulo mirror phone license Fri By Shasta Darlington SAO PAULO, April 22 (Reuters) - Brazil plans to sell Friday a license to operate a fixed-line telephone company in Sao Paulo, its richest and most populous state, in a bid to foster competition in the recently-privatized sector. Two groups, representing among others Bell Canada International Inc. (BI.TO - news), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM - news) and Argentina's Macri group, were approved to bid for the license that will compete with Telesp Participacoes in the coveted market. Envelopes containing the two proposals will be opened Friday at an auction at the Rio de Janeiro stock exchange at 1000 local/0900 EDT/1300 GMT. While the winning bidder will pay a nominal price of at least 70 million reais for the license, the proposals will be mostly judged for their technical content. Friday's auction will be the government's second attempt to sell the ''mirror'' license. Analysts said investor concern over changes in the country's foreign exchange policy -- which would lead to a 30-percent-plus devaluation -- scared off potential bidders in the first attempt in January. Brazil privatized its former telephone monopoly Telebras in the biggest auction ever in Latin America, selling off 12 telephone companies that had been carved out of the federal monolith for $19 billion. The government has already sold licenses to compete with the cellular phone companies. It sold one fixed-line ''mirror'' concession and the long-distance license in January, and hopes to sell the two remaining fixed-line concessions this year. Brazil failed to attract any bidders to a fixed-line concession to compete with Tele Centro Sul that would also have been sold Friday. Telecommunications watchdog agency Anatel confirmed Thursday the approval of two groups to bid for the Sao Paulo license. Megatel do Brasil represents Bell Canada, Qualcomm and Brazilian industry group Vicunha, among others. It is the same group, also called Canbra, that already won a license to compete with Tele Norte Leste . The other group, the Rio de la Plata consortium, includes Uruguay's Antel and MTC-Mercosul Technology and Communication and Argentina's Macri Group. Spain's Telefonica , which bought Telesp Participacoes last July, has been gearing up for competition from a ''mirror'' company, as has long-distance operator Embratel . Still, analysts said it is too soon to gauge when the new ''mirror'' company could threaten Telesp's current monopoly in the fixed-line phone business in Sao Paulo. ''It depends on what the 'mirror' is going to be allowed to do,'' said Zain Manekia, an analyst at Warburg Dillon Read in New York. ''But I'd be more worried about competition from other fronts in the short term.'' Long before the new mirror company is up and running, Telesp will face competition for the first time from Embratel in the lucrative local long-distance business. Cellphones and small Internet providers have also begun to encroach on Telesp's market. In the long term, however, the ''mirror'' company could benefit from Telefonica's public relations crisis which has made Telesp the most-complained about company in the country, according to Brazil's consumer protection agency Procon. ''Telesp will probably will lose a lot more customers over the next three years than the market had anticipated,'' Manekia said. More Quotes and News: Bell Canada International Inc (Toronto:BI.TO - news) Qualcomm Inc (Nasdaq:QCOM - news) Related News Categories: Canadian Market News, telecom Help Copyright © 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. See our Important Disclaimers and Legal Information. Questions or Comments?

To: limtex who wrote (28138)	4/26/1999 12:40:00 PM
From: George Gotch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Ok...Now what was my point? I actually forgot what I posted on the "Q". I guess I was in my "trying to make rational the market" stage. Well, after a blow out weekend, I am much better now and don't really care where any of this stuff goes as long as what I am long or short goes my way. I guess we all know, qcom excluded cause they had good numbers, that the market is in another world so we don't need another person telling us what we already know. I am just keeping my eye on the long bond. Wouldn't be surprise if we wake up one day and see rates over 6%. Then I will change my strategy.