European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said yesterday that clearance of the proposed joint venture between Sprint Corp and the Deutsche Telekom AG-France Telecom alliance could not be separated from the Atlas venture between the two European partners. He warned that unless France and Germany alternative telecommunications infrastructure by January the European Commission would not be able to clear the Atlas venture. Germany has already said that it is unable to meet the January deadline, so it looks as if the impasse will continue for many months. It is already abundantlly clear that it is extremely unlikely that we can take a decision before the year-end, Van Miert declared.
