The Spanish government is to create a second state-owned telecommunications carrier to compete with Telefonica de Espana SA which will be privatized as soon as possible, Economy Minister Rodrigo Rato said on Friday – Initially it would be a state company but we would quickly privatise 51% of it, he said; all services except basic telephony will be fully liberalised imminently, he added, while competition in basic telephony will be restricted to Telefonica and the new company until 1998 when any operator would be free to come in; earlier, British Telecommunications Plc told APDJ World Equities Report that it is poised to increase its presence in the Spanish telecommunications market – We have the resources, the cash, the technology, th e people and the partners to be in Spain in a big way, said Alfred Mockett, the general director of the company’s global communications division.
