The board of Spanish telecom company Telefonica de Espana hasn’t decided whether to drop BT or MCI in the review of its strategic international alliances carried out Wednesday. By taking no final decision between the two former Concert members, who now find themselves in opposing camps after WorldCom’s acquisition of MCI, Telefonica has left the ball very much in BT’s court. With the deadline for entering a bid for the third fixed telephony license in Spain just two days away, on 28 February, BT will have to show its hand, which in turn will be a de facto decision on the future of its alliance with Telefonica. If it enters a bid, the alliance is dead. If it doesn’t, said one insider, then everything will remain up in the air. With MCI offering access to the US market of some 30 million Hispanics, an established presence around Latin America and the backing of a player like WorldCom, BT’s sizable purse for bankrolling the acquisitions Telefonica wants to carry out in Brazil seems to pale by comparison. One is tempted to conclude the the Telefonica board is keeping its fingers crossed BT will go ahead and bid for that license.
