Bell Atlantic Corp is denying that it has already pulled the plug on its involvement with Ing C Olivetti SpA in the the Italian fixed-line telecommunications joint venture Infostrada SpA. The US group owns a 33% stake in Infostrada; Olivetti holds the rest. Press reports that we have withdrawn are incorrect. We have been in discussions for sometime but they have yet to be concluded, said David Frail, a Bell Atlantic spokesperson However, according to Olivetti, Bell has already decided to leave the joint venture over disagreements regarding Olivetti’s plans to bring France Telecom into the venture. In a statement, Olivetti said Infostrada had postponed an extraordinary shareholder’s meeting because Bell Atlantic intends to withdraw from the joint venture. The shareholders meeting had been called to approve up to a 65bn lire ($97m) capital increase, which would have enabled France Telecom to a 49% stake. Infostrada was formed in the spring of 1995 to take on the monopoly of Telecom Italia SpA, and by autumn of the same year the company was in talks with France Telecom for the French giant to take a 49% stake. Insiders say the companies have been arguing over the role of France Telecom in recent months, which has held up progress in the business. Infostrada saw turnover of only $39.5m in 1996, and analysts believe Bell’s departure will clear the way for the business to start taking off. Discussions are continuing to finalize terms of the split, said Olivetti. The outcome of the talks is likely to be a factor in whether France Telecom will go ahead with the stake, and whether any new partners will join the venture
