Cable & Wireless Plc is allied with AT&T Corp on a new venture expected to be announced this week to exploit the situation where a large number of underfunded bidders are going to end up with valuable US Personal Communications Services licences when the auctions close.A new company, North American Wireless Corp, based in Vienna, Virginia and backed by the US and UK phone companies, reportedly plans to woo franchise winners across the US with the offer that it will build their networks for them and lease capacity back to them, on condition that they agree to allow their services to be marketed as part of a national brand. Neither is expected to invest in the new company, but AT&T Network Systems sees potential for one sale of up to $2,000m of Personal Communications Services equipment to North American Wireless rather than having to pitch products to winners individually, and Cable & Wireless Inc is expected to provide the long-distance connections necessary to link franchises to create a seamless US network, something that AT&T would be forbidden from doing.
