AT&T Corp has taken a long time to make use of last December’s present from Santa of a UK public telecommunications operator’s licence (CI No 2,571). But the US long-distance carrier is finally entering the UK market this December by leasing capacity from British Telecommunications Plc and Mercury Communications Ltd, initially to serve its multi-national customers. In the first quarter of next year AT &T will offer services to residential customers. It is exploring the possibility of a microwave network, though it has not applied for a licence to build it as yet. AT&T is also thought to be interested in British Rail Telecommunications Ltd’s ready-made 12,500 miles of copper and optical cable alongside the rail tracks, which has been on offer from Swiss Bank Corp since May (CI No 2,709). The company would not comment on such speculation. AT&T said that it would compete with British Telecom by offering special packages to heavy users and through more efficient billing systems. Sprint Corp, which has held a UK operator’s licence since April 1994, also has still to declare its hand.
