New Italtel SpA chief Salvatore Randi is in no hurry to complete the protracted process of choosing an international partner for his new charge, and the decision, originally to have been announced in July, may well not be given until early in the New Year: of the four, Siemens AG has a strong presence in Italy, having taken over GTE Corp’s business there and making Italtel’s Linea UT exchange under licence, AT&T Co offering prospects of US business, L M Ericsson AB being especially strong in switching, and Alcatel NV delivering the whole of continental Europe – but AT&T and Siemens are now clear front-runners, and may be invited in for a play-off against each other, reckons the Financial Times.