Three banking consortia will this week sign a contract to value Portugal’s state-owned telecomunications industry in preparation for privatisation, according to Reuter; the consortia are headed by Banco Portugues de Investimento, Banco Fomento e Exterior, and Banco ESSI: state-owned Telefones de Lisboa e Porto and Telecom Portugal, which control domestic networks and links with the rest of Europe will be merged with Teledifusao de Portugal under an agreement reached in February; timing and terms of the inclusion of the 49% privately-owned Marconi Comunicacoes Globais Ltda, which handles telecommunications with countries outside Europe, have yet to be decided; privatisation should be completed before France and Germany sell off their state telephone monopolies in 1996.
